Heart of Darkness
by XFauxAfflictionX
Summary: The path to darkness is not always black-and-white, and Khan Noonien Singh's is no different. In his life, he has faced love, loss, pain, and rage. His past may not excuse his actions, but it may help to explain them. (This is an adaptation of the back story of J.J. Abrams' alternate-continuity version of Khan).
1. Prologue

Rowen Eugenics Labs

London, England

Stardate 1994.55

The Eugenics Wars

"Any news on the progress made by the Russians?"

"Very little, Director. Our mole has said they are close to activating their pods, but hasn't confirmed."

"Hm. Disappointing." A pause. "It doesn't change the timeline. When will we be ready to activate?"

"Within the week sir."

"Make it two days. And call in the medical personnel. Make sure they are here on schedule."

"Yes sir. But sir, they've requested a pay increase, as they don't fully know how the subjects will behave."

A gruff sigh. "Yes, yes. Whatever they request. Just get them here."

"Yes sir."

Footsteps.

"Sir?"

"What?!"

"Which one should we activate first?"

Another long pause.

"This one. Seems to be the most successful of the group. Where are the papers? Ah, here. Looks they've designated this one…

Khan."


	2. Chapter 1

**Heart of Darkness**

**Chapter 1**

"Welcome to Rowen Eugenics, Dr. McGivers. Allow me to show you to your temporary lodgings. Director Pierce is sure you will find them satisfactory."

Mara peered around the vast, six-story atrium of chrome and glass, her eyes awed by the grandiose nature of the facility. The north and south walls were lined with solid metal railings, with numerous rooms and hallways branching off beyond. The west wall was almost entirely plate glass, with the rounded ceiling, which was also plate glass, giving the opposite end of the building a garden-archway look. The floors were polished white tile of some kind, and everything sparkled. Mara could almost smell the lemon-lilac floor polish.

"Yes," she replied distractedly, slightly overwhelmed by the facility. "I'm sure I will."

The receptionist continued walking, her blue velvet Bata heels ringing throughout the compound. Mara smiled to herself at the revolution that _only_ a receptionist would wear heels to a 9-5.

"It's just through here, Doctor," the receptionist said, waving Mara into an open elevator. Mara chastised herself for letting the woman's name slip her mind.

The elevator ride was uncomfortable and quiet. Mara felt out of her element—out of her league. She had never been summoned to examine augmented human beings before. She had no idea what to expect. But apparently this Director… this Pierce… believed she was one of the best in her field and thus the most highly qualified. She felt proud of her achievements at Princeton General, but hardly found them worthy of such a task. She felt that the outsourcing of third-party diagnosticians and surgeons was an odd undertaking for Rowen Eugenics. She felt that surely they should have had medical staff of their own…

"Here we are. The staterooms," the receptionist said with a smile that looked entirely fake. "Yours is number…" she paused looking down a clipboard that she clung to like a newborn. "517. Just down the hall to the left."

Mara stepped slowly out of the elevator, feeling as if, somehow, the floor would collapse from under her.

"Will you be needing anything else?" the receptionist said in the same fake tone.

Mara finally snapped from her awestruck reverie, spinning to face the receptionist. "Yes. I would like to see the specimens."

The receptionist looked a bit shocked, her eyebrows furrowing. "Yes, of course. But, don't you think you should settle in fir…"

"I'll just drop my bags inside. There is time for that later," she sai,d turning to walk down the aisle, a bit more confidence returning to her step. She could tell by the absence of heel-clicking that the receptionist had not followed.

Mara turned, slightly annoyed. "I'm going to drop my bags in my room. If you don't wish to accompany me, I'll simply find my way to the labs by myself."

The receptionist practically leapt from the elevator, clearing her throat and smoothing her pencil skirt. "No, ma'am, I'll show you there right away."

Mara smiled as she registered two things—one, that the receptionist had clearly been told not to let any visitors wander the facility unaccompanied by a Rowen employee. It made her wonder what they were hiding. And two—the title had gone from "Dr." to "ma'am." A clear sign of lessening respect. It only made her smile. She didn't exactly want respect from this brand of person.

Mara slid the key card the receptionist had given her upon arrival through the door lock of room 517. It hissed and whirred for an extended moment, before popping ajar and allowing her inside. Mara couldn't help but whistle. She was sure the receptionist was rolling her eyes behind her, but couldn't summon the energy to care.

The room was the size of a normal living room, with soft, plush carpeting and an ornate bedspread embroidered in gold thread. The drapes were a heavy maroon material, which was beyond capable of blocking out all sunlight. Beyond the open wall-sized window was a breathtaking view of the London skyline, Big Ben in the very middle.

Mara snapped out of it, hauling her carry-on into the entryway, and turning back to the receptionist.

"Shall we?"

The receptionist gave her another fake smile and led the way back to the elevator.

"The labs are below ground for safety reasons," the receptionist said quietly as the elevator doors closed behind them. "All levels below ground are marked with alphabetical designations, all levels above are marked in roman numerals. We will be going to F-level. Your key-card is authorized to access all levels except A. And before you ask, A-level is just offices—the Director, the lab technicians, those sorts. They didn't find it prudent to allow the key cards access to a level that you won't ever need to visit."

Mara nodded as the red light at the crown of the elevator followed their progression—2, 1, A, B, C, D…

Mara could feel the air getting cooler as the elevator sunk farther underground.

"F-Level. Please exit," an electronic voice projected through the elevator as the chrome doors slid open smoothly.

The underground level was extremely different from the above-ground. Where there had been ornate decoration and glass, the lower level was made entirely of clean, hard white linoleum. All of the walls and floors were of the same make—as if their installation was dependent on the fact that linoleum could be hosed down. With a shiver, Mara realized that it could have been the _sole_ reason.

The wall to the right was solid, but to the left were "pods" of laboratories, their walls made of plexiglass so that the technicians could be viewed at all times.

It was exactly as Mara pictured it—men in sweater-vests and khakis with long white lab coats on top, a name tag pinned haphazardly to the lapel. They milled about their labs with syringes and plungers and test tubes filled with all manner of materials. Mara took a deep breath, trying not to let the New Jersey native in her become anxious at the sight.

_This is what I've worked for all my life_, she thought to herself in an effort to steel her nerves.

"Just through that gray door at the end, there," the receptionist said, motioning to the door.

"You're not coming?" Mara asked, feeling dumb immediately after having asked.

"I'm not permitted, ma'am. Good afternoon," she said with an incline of her head, spinning on her heels to return to the elevator.

"It's been a real joy," Mara said under her breath, sliding her key card to the right of the gray door, and entering.

* * *

** A few author's notes**-I made the decision to change her name from Marla to Mara, simply because the name 'Marla' is somewhat dated. I figured it was acceptable, since it's an alternate continuity anyway.

Second note, I am (obviously) utilizing the new, J.J. Abrams formation of Stardates. For example, January 1, 1994 would be 1994.1, and December 31st of the same year would be 1994.365. Savvy?

Enjoy. And live long and prosper.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Welcome, Dr. McGivers," said a tall, well-groomed man standing in the center of the room. He started toward her to shake her hand, and it gave her a moment to assess the room.

It was long and narrow, with a low ceiling. The walls and floor were the same white linoleum, but there were absolutely no windows. In fact, with the door shut, it resembled a very elongated bomb shelter. The middle of the room was empty, but lining the sides were equal rows of waist-high tubes measuring about seven feet long. They resembled pill capsules, with half one color, and half another. Although instead of colors, the tubes were half metal, with trinkets, knobs, and lit buttons displaying across them, and the other half was clear plexiglass. Within them was some kind of liquid, illuminated by a gentle blue light from below. The liquid reflected the blue light, giving each tube the appearance of glowing. And within the liquid… within every single tube… was a human being.

Mara's heart leapt into her throat. The breath left her lungs, and she suddenly felt weak and cold.

"Are you alright?" the man said, and she realized he was standing in front of her, hand outstretched, waiting for her to shake it.

"Yes, yes. My apologies," she began, shaking his hand. Her arm waved like jello as her own weakness met his very strong grip.

"My name is Henry Pierce, and this is my facility," he paused with a wry, handsome smile. "Don't worry, Doctor. We get that reaction a lot. Please, come look at them."

Mara felt drunk as she stumbled forward, peering down on the nearest tube. The subject was naked, with all manner of tubes and syringes protruding from his body. Conveniently, the metal bottom half of the capsule covered his lower extremities, but as Mara looked up, she could see females suspended in other capsules, their naked breasts visible under the sea of wires and tubes penetrating their bodies. Mara felt sick for a moment, but swallowed it and tried to disguise it as awe.

"How many are there?" she asked quietly, walking around the tube she was standing at to peer into the next one.

"Seventy-three," Pierce replied with pride. "Thirty-seven men, thirty-six women. All physically and mentally superior."

Mara could see the physical aspect—the men were built like male models, the women like athletes. Even suspended in this liquid, Mara could tell that each and every one of them was the epitome of the human form. What she wondered, though, was how they knew that the subjects were _mentally_ superior.

"They are very impressive," Mara said, resting her hands on the glass of the tube and examining the woman beneath. "But how do you know they are mentally superior?"

Pierce smiled, obviously happy to answer the question. "Do you see how her eyes move as if she were dreaming?" Pierce said, stepping forward to admire the subject as well.

Mara nodded, noticing that it was true—the subject's eyes moved back and forth rapidly beneath her eyelids, as if she were in deep REM sleep.

"That connection at the base of her skull," Pierce began, pointing to a black coil that attached to the back of the woman's neck. "That is made of a revolutionary fiber cable that melds with human tissue. For a few months now, we have been feeding them a steady stream of knowledge. Like plugging in to a computer. Their skills will be extensive, and they will already speak seven different languages. With the capacity to learn new languages within days."

Pierce was shining like a child proud of his science project. For all intents and purposes… he was.

"What is their molecular age?" Mara asked, moving on to the next capsule—a male. His eyes moved the same way.

"We manufactured their genes in such a way that they would reach maturity within a matter of months, but stop there. Most of them stopped at the age-equivalent of twenty-six to twenty-nine," Pierce said, fiddling with a few buttons on the subject's capsule.

The man's eyes fluttered, and his hands jerked once. Mara desperately wanted to ask what he had done, but sensed she didn't want to know.

"They won't age?" she asked distractedly, leaning down to closely examine the facial structure.

"They will, just extremely slowly. Their physiology is remarkably like ours, if you can believe it. It's just that… everything about us that could be improved—strength, intelligence, healing, aging—it has all been engineered into them.

"Their cells regenerate at triple the rate of ours," Pierce continued, pressing a few more buttons. A robotic arm appeared from the side of the tank, a scalpel clutched in its pincers.

"I really don't need a demonst…" Mara began, but it was too late.

The scalpel sliced the man's torso, and Mara was distinctly aware of the twitch that ran his entire body, and the grimace that momentarily graced his face.

Mara's eyes went back to the wound just in time to see the skin graft itself back together in a matter of seconds. The blood that had seeped into the capsule disintegrated into the blue hue fairly quickly.

Mara looked back to the man's sleep-like face. "They feel pain?" she asked quietly, recalling the momentary grimace.

"Yes, we found that crucial to self-preservation. While it is unlikely the subject can be harmed by much, if they are, the pain register helps to preserve vital organs," Pierce said, pressing another button, and letting the robotic arm return to its place along the side of the capsule.

"When will you…" she paused, unsure of the vernacular to use. 'Activate' seemed too robotic, 'awaken' sounded too human. These subjects seemed… somewhere in the middle.

"Tomorrow, 0-800. A few of our requested medical professionals have not arrived yet. Now, if you have no more questions, I have a few things to do in order to prepare," he said with a genuine smile.

"Of course, Director. I'll see you tomorrow morning," she said, turning for the elevator.

"Prepare to be amazed, Doctor!" Pierce called with glee.

She did not feel at all amazed. Sick and anxious better described it.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Mara held back a yawn as the group of invited Doctors gathered in a row in the middle of the chamber of capsules. All but one of the fifteen doctors were strangers to her, and the one she had met had been briefly at a Lung and Heart symposium in Dallas. They all seemed as lost and awestruck as her, however, so she couldn't help but to identify with them.

"Welcome, esteemed medical professionals, to Rowen Eugenics," Pierce said as he strode purposefully into the room. He was flanked by several assistants and lab technicians, and Mara couldn't help but think of the Godfather. She tried very hard to stifle her laughter at the thought.

"I am Director Henry Pierce, and I am proud to say that our long days and sleepless nights here at Rowen labs have finally paid off. What you see before you is an augmented human—genetically engineered to be superior to us in every way. The purpose of these subjects is to aid in the advancement of our species on this planet—to build a better world for our children," he paused for dramatic effect, "and for many generations to come. They are smarter, stronger, and uniquely superior. And they are going to form our new future."

As he finished, several doctors genuinely clapped. Most of them didn't know what to make of the situation.

"We've summoned you all here to aid in monitoring these subjects on a medical basis. While they are somewhat different from us, they are built exactly like us. The best of us, yes, but us nonetheless. Today, we are going to activate the first of our Augmented Human Lifeforms, or AHL's, a full month before the activation of the same technology in Russia. And I wanted you all to be a part of it."

More applause. Mara felt an uneasy lump in her throat.

Pierce stepped up next to the nearest tube, nodding to a few technicians. They joined him, one to his left, two more on the other side of the capsule.

"Twenty years ago, my father told me of his dream to create such life. Today, his dream comes true," Pierce said, leaning forward and pressing an aptly red-colored button in the center of the capsule's console.

The capsule began whirring, clicking, and generally changing. The blue liquid inside began to decrease, setting the subject on his back as the weightless environment sank. Some of the cords and syringes began to retract, pulling from his skin and retracting into the walls of the capsule. Once the liquid had completely drained, the glass cover split in the middle and began to electronically recede down into the lower extremis of the capsule's machinery.

Mara felt a fleeting panic on the realization that the subject wasn't moving or breathing. She'd never witnessed anything like this before, and knew she should let it run its course. But she, along with a few others, looked panicked.

"It's quite alright, he will awaken momentarily," Pierce said, checking a handheld computer of some kind, which obviously revealed vitals.

For an entire tense, anxiety-filled minute, the subject did not move. Mara thought she could see panic forming in Pierce's face for a split second. Then…

It happened so quickly she didn't even have time to yelp.

The subject's eyes snapped open, his face instantly forming into one of anger. He sat up, quick as a snake, his black hair sticking to his face as his body was still covered in whatever liquid had been suspending him.

He reached out, shoving two of the three technicians back so hard that one of them cracked the glass of the capsule behind it when he struck it. The subject reached to the closest available object—the mechanic arm from within the capsule—and tore it easily from its hinges. Like tearing Kleenex in half.

He swung sideways lithely from the elevated capsule, and held the bionic arm out like a weapon. He backed away from the group, snapping the arm back and forth, unsure of where to point it. Some of the cords and tubes were still attached to his body, and he ripped them from his skin in panicked anger. Just as the blood began to flow, it stopped. His body healed just as quickly as it was wounded.

Mara heard an impressed gasp from the other Doctors, and pained whimpers coming from the injured technicians. Pierce, however, moved toward the subject. He handed his computer to a technician slowly, then raised his hands in a show of surrender.

"Khan," Pierce said quietly, inching closer.

The subject, Khan, as he was being called, jerked his head to the side to look at Pierce. His eyes narrowed. He choked for a moment, coughing out mouthfuls of the strange blue liquid. He shook his head to rid himself of the liquid, blinking uncertainly. His entire body shook, and he continued holding the bionic arm toward Pierce.

"M… my name," Khan choked, swallowing hard. His voice was deep, soft, and dangerous. It was inflected with the Londoner's accent, and Mara assumed the artificial intelligence given to him had installed such a thing.

"Yes," Pierce said, taking another step closer. "Your name is Khan," Pierce said quietly, extending a hand to take the arm from Khan.

Khan noticed he was about to be disarmed, and his face turned to anger again. He slapped Pierce's hand away, and in one fluid movement had grabbed one of Pierce's technicians, and held her in a vice grip. She tried hard not to cry out, but it was obvious that his grip could crush steel. Her eyes watered as she attempted to stay calm. Khan held the severed end of the bionic arm to her throat, the jagged edge hovering over her carotid.

"Khan," Pierce said in a warning tone, backing away a step. "Khan, we are friends. _Allies_."

This particular word use obviously registered, because his grip slackened. He looked at Pierce questioningly, and Mara thought she saw a flash of fear in his eyes. Could they even feel fear?

"We are your allies, Khan," Pierce said again, continuing to hold his hands aloft. "See? None of us are armed."

He said that, but behind his back, one of the technicians was loading a tiny syringe gun with some kind of dark red liquid. The gun clicked as the technician slipped the syringe in place, and Khan twitched, his eyes going directly to the technician. His hand tightened on the bionic arm, and the woman he held whimpered. There was blood running down her throat.

"_No weapons!"_ Pierce hissed over his shoulder. "Remember what we have taught him. _Put it down!"_

The technician slowly set the syringe gun on a nearby capsule, reluctantly holding his hands aloft as well.

Khan studied them for a moment, his piercing eyes whipping back and forth to every person in the room, judging the threat. There was a tense moment in which Mara thought he would simply kill the woman and fight his way free.

Just as soon as it had begun, it ended. Khan straightened, dropping his arms from the woman's neck, and letting the bionic arm fall to the ground. He took his first deep breath, and it sounded choked. He, however, did not seem to care.

"There we are," Pierce said easily, but decided to move slowly. Like Khan was a spooked horse.

Pierce removed his long lab coat, extending it to Khan's shoulders and laying it around him. Khan looked at it curiously, but wrapped it around his naked form.

"See? No threat here," Pierce said to him, looking him in the eyes for the first time and holding his gaze.

Khan's gaze narrowed, and he seemed… contemplative. Like he doubted Pierce's words. Part of Mara did, too.

"Lucy, Brianne, will you see that _Khan_ is taken to his room. Dr. McGivers," Pierce said, his loud tone returning as he turned to face the doctors. "You have been assigned four of them, Khan included. Please follow Lucy and Brianne as they escort Khan to his room. I trust you can perform the necessary medical examination?"

"Uh… yes," she cleared her throat so she wouldn't sound so clueless. She looked to Khan, whose dagger-sharp stare burned into her unwaveringly. "Yes, Director. Standard medical exam, sir?" she clarified.

"That should do, for now," he said with a smile, looking proudly at Khan.

Khan, however, narrowed his eyes at Pierce, then turned to Mara, looking her over like a piece of meat.

Something told her this was going to be a lot more complicated than she anticipated.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The staterooms for "the 73," as the accompanying technician called them, were on D-level. Khan was quiet and contemplative as he followed the technician and Mara through the winding halls and onto the elevator.

He did not look curiously at the elevator as Mara expected. Instead, he seemed to be intimately familiar with its workings, and was merely spying flaws and strengths in the structure.

He was a remarkable specimen. He was not curious about anything—he was already familiar with the machinations and extreme sciences being performed at Rowen. He understood them, and marveled at their execution. Even the way he carried himself was unlike someone who had never before set foot to floor. He was slow and graceful, but palpably dangerous. Like a prowling wildcat.

The staterooms for The 73 were wildly different than those aboveground. Where there was ornate decoration and wide windows in Mara's room, Khan's was simple and functional. It was small—probably 12'x12'. The bed was large enough, but as small as possible to maximize space. It was metal, protruding from the wall like a limb. There was a closet set into the wall, with sparse selections inside. A single desk sat opposite the bed, with what looked like schematics and blank pages set atop.

Khan was a thinker. He would need to occupy himself.

Upon entering, Khan was the first to step forward. He looked around, unimpressed and yet unwavering. He held the coat around him without dedication—as if he knew that social construction was the only thing prohibiting his nudity.

Mara looked at the technician, Lucy had been her name, with questioning. Lucy smiled meekly, obviously unsure of how to treat Khan. He was the first of his kind. No one knew how to act.

Disregarding her timidity, Lucy stepped forward, pulling a few things from the closet, shying away from Khan as he looked at her. She set the clothes on the bed, then backed away, grinning weakly at him as he scrutinized her every move. His eyes narrowed at the smile, and he tilted his head like a puppy.

Lucy approached Mara, pulling her aside as Khan turned away, taking the clothes and analyzing them.

"He was taught many things," Lucy said in a low whisper. Mara cleared her throat and turned away as Khan dropped the coat and dressed in the clothes provided.

"But the extent is unclear. Here,"

Lucy held out her hand, and Mara looked down to see a small gun.

"But I thought…" Mara began to argue as the gun was shoved in her hand.

"I know what Pierce said. But he could crush you with his thumb and pinky finger. You just… need to be prepared. It won't kill him. Not unless you shoot him in the head, and even then…"

Lucy's words trailed off, and Mara thought she could sense a regret at the creation Lucy had aided.

"Just… hide it from him," Lucy said. "I'll be right outside."

Mara nodded, more questions piling up than she had answers to. She slid the gun down the back of her belt, pulling her suit coat over it to hide it. She turned back to Khan as Lucy exited, and found him sitting statue-like on the bed. The clothes given to him were all black, and hugged his perfect form. His spine was perfectly straight, and his hands lay quietly on his thighs. And he was staring at her like an owl admires the night.

Mara cleared her throat in an effort to create confidence, and pulled her bag from her shoulder. She went about silently pulling various items that she would need, keeping her eyes averted.

"Do I frighten you?" he asked suddenly, and she looked up at him. He was still as the night, his eyes boring into hers.

"I… no. You don't scare me," she said, straightening.

"A lie," he said, inclining his head slightly. "Dilated pupils. The aligning of the spine, lifting of the eyes—a tell. Why do I scare you?"

Her breath left her at the immensity of his skill and intelligence. "I… I've never met anyone like you," she replied, closing her bag but staying where she was, kneeling in front of him.

"I believe it is safe to assume no one has," he said with a calm breath. "Why, then, is your first reaction fear? I've given you no reason. Is it natural for humans?"

She got the feeling that he wasn't curious. That he didn't know these things. Instead, she felt that he _did_ know, and was simply exploiting it. _That_ scared her.

"You did. Give me a reason," she said with a pause, gaining confidence. She stood, taking her medical supplies with her and setting them on the desk.

"You hurt those lab technicians. Threw them around like ragdolls," she said, taking her syringe.

"I was outnumbered and surrounded. I'm given to understand that my reaction, like your fear, was perfectly natural."

Mara couldn't help that her jaw fell open. It made perfect sense, and he knew it. Mara thought she saw the corner of his lips form a momentary grin.

"May I have your arm, please," she said, changing the subject. She knelt in front of him, holding out a hand. He overturned his wrist, placing it gently in her hand. His skin was warm, like any human being, and smooth.

She took a deep breath, sinking the syringe into the median cubital vein. Khan did not react at all—merely continued to stare down at her.

"Do you…" she began, pulling what she needed into the syringe, and removing it. "Do you understand who you are?" she asked, placing the cap on the syringe.

"I assume by this, you mean '_what'_? Do I understand _what _I am?"

She didn't respond, just stared back at him. He blinked, turning his eyes from hers. It was a small move, but it told her a great deal.

"Yes," he said, pulling his arm back. "I understand."

His tone was questionable. Mara was unsure if he was simply making the statement, or if there was something beneath—anger, sadness.

"Watch my finger," she said, slowly waving it in front of him and shining a scope in his eyes to watch for dilation.

He did as he was asked, but there was something animalistic in his features. Like a dog trained to do tricks, waiting for a chance to strike.

"Are you… angry?" she asked, putting her scope down and taking out her sphygmometer, and leaning up to wrap the cuff around his bicep. He watched her slowly before answering.

"My regard of my condition is no different than yours. Are _you_ angry?" he asked. This time he did smile.

Mara was stopped in her tracks as both the charm and danger in his smile struck her like a kick in the gut.

She returned the smile, cautiously. "No," she said, pumping the dial and watching for the reading.

His blood pressure was remarkably human—the same as any athletic male. She shook off the exasperation, removing the cuff and grabbing her stethoscope. She draped it over her neck, and repositioned on the floor in front of him.

She reached for his arm again, and this time he didn't wait to be asked. He placed his wrist in her hand once more, but she swore his fingers grazed her skin, just over her radial artery. Was he playing her?

She held his wrist tightly between two fingers, counting the beats. He stared dangerously at her the entire time, and for part of the time, she held his gaze.

His pulse, like his blood pressure, was identical to that of any athletic man.

"May I?" she asked, pointing to the bottom of his shirt.

He said nothing, but the corners of his mouth turned to a smirk.

Mara took another deep breath, lifting his shirt and placing the stethoscope over his heart. Kneeling where she was, she had no choice but to look him in the eyes. And it was so unnerving that she lost count and had to begin anew.

"Do I impress you?" he asked as she withdrew the stethoscope and wrote her results on a notepad.

"Yes," she replied simply. "You are remarkable."

The statement did not flatter or phase him. On the contrary, it seemed to be a fact he was aware of.

"Then… may I ask you something?" he said, his tone changing. It lowered to an almost sensual whisper.

"Of course," she said, reaching slowly for his neck and examining his thyroid. For the first time, he seemed uncomfortable as her fingers reached his throat. He actually leaned away, taking in a small, sharp breath. For a moment, Mara wondered what in his enhanced knowledge had taught him to be wary of a hand on his throat. It was an instinctual reaction, yes. But not one Mara ever saw in any patients other than soldiers.

He waited for her hand to descend before continuing. He leaned in slowly to her, his face inches from hers. Something told her not to pull away from him.

"If I impress you," he began simply. "And if you feel that I am '_remarkable_',"

His hand snapped around her throat, and he dragged her to her feet as he violently stood. She yelped as he shoved her back easily, slamming her against the closet door. His free hand reached around her, and she felt his grasp on her lower back.

He yanked the gun into view, practically pressing it against her face.

"_Then why did you bring this?_" he hissed.

Before she could answer, the door was open, and Lucy stood with the other technician, Brianne, both holding weapons of their own.

"I had no intention of using it," Mara whimpered against Khan's grip.

"Then why _bring_ it? Is this not the _purpose_ of a weapon? To attack?" he growled, now pointing the nose against her cheek.

"Khan!" Lucy warned from the door.

"Yes. It is," Mara said with conviction, pushing against Khan's grip. It wouldn't do any good, but she knew he would notice that she was at least fighting back. "It is the purpose of a weapon to attack others. But my thought process on the matter was that I would need it to defend against you—a weapon in and of yourself. So, am I not justified? Facing one weapon with another?"

Lucy, Brianne, and even Khan seemed taken aback by the answer. Khan, in particular, straightened, releasing her.

"You are," he said simply, looking down at the gun. Within half a second, he emptied the cartridge and dissembled the gun into three harmless pieces. He held them out to her, and turned his back as she took them.

He returned to his bed, sitting contentedly. He closed his eyes, taking long, calm breaths.

The adrenaline caused Mara's hands to shake, but she felt accomplished. Like she had proven something to him.

Another thought struck her, however, as Lucy and Brianne turned from the room and Mara packed her medical bag.

_Had that been his entire point? To test her? What kind of knowledge had they given him, exactly?_


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Physician's Log

London, England

Stardate 1994.60

The subjects created by Rowen Eugenics Labs are truly remarkable and unique. They are built like humans, they act like humans, but they are, for lack of a better term, better. I have witnessed the awakening of 73 of these incredible men and women within the last week, all of them capable of stunning feats of strength and intelligence. They are the pinnacle of human creation—a shining example of the mastery of the human gene. I have had the pleasure and joy of working and interacting with all 72 AHL's, but none of them fascinate me like Khan.

Upon awakening for the first time, all of them were calm, contemplative, and relatively docile. Except for Khan. He was vicious and dangerous from his very first breath, attacking two laboratory technicians, and later assaulting me. He is the same as the others, yet different. His personality is alpha to the extreme, and he seems to have very little restraint when it comes to violent contact with regular human beings. During his first meeting with the other 72, he wholeheartedly embraced them—saw a kinship within those who resembled and behaved like him.

It is unclear to me just what, exactly, he learned from the AI network provided to all of The 73, although I think I am beginning to understand. While Khan and his counterparts are made to understand and think as though already learned, I see them thinking in different ways from me. Where I consider moral dilemmas and social construction, as I was taught to do, The 73 disregard such constraints. It makes their thinking free, yes. But it also makes their thinking dangerous.

And yet, they are remarkably human. After an initial "test" of my cognitive reasoning, he seems to have accepted my ongoing presence. At first, I was met with resistance in the form of uneasiness and distrust. Now, it seems I have proven myself to whatever standards he has deemed to judge me by. I can only hope that those standards are ones I would approve of.

Dr. Mara McGivers, MD


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"I find it extremely amusing that a medical professional takes to smoking," Khan said lazily as he strolled next to her through the quad.

The gardens were located just outside of the ground-floor foyer, and it was as far out of the compound as The 73 were allowed to go. Khan hadn't exposed any dissatisfaction at this fact, although Mara knew he had to be.

"It's not my fault you chose to come with me," Mara replied, taking a drag of her Marlboro. She glanced sideways at him, watching as he walked. The typical black clothes he wore were very fitting, hugging his chest and biceps. Although the sun was shining brightly, he didn't seem to mind the long sleeves. He actually seemed more comfortable in them. The psychoanalyst in her told her it had something to do with the regular blood-tests.

"So what is it you tell your patients who smoke?" he asked, glancing at the plentiful Rowen gardens. The openness of the quad was deceiving—it made the compound look free and spacious, when in reality, the entire place was surrounded by twelve-foot-high barbed and electrified fencing. Sometimes Mara wondered if they were trying to keep people out… or in.

"The same thing I tell all my patients—that it is bad for their health and they should quit as safely and quickly as possible. I just don't listen to myself when I talk. I make me very mad," she said with a smile, taking another drag. When he chuckled in return, Mara realized it was the first time she had heard him do so. And, like his smile, it was equal parts charm and danger. Like a genuinely amused Disney villain.

Khan walked like a soldier. He had never been taught or trained to do so, it was simply something he did by nature—spine straight and shoulders back, chin up. He held his hands behind his back, the top of one resting in the palm of the other. Even his steps were measured.

"So," she began anew, picking a magnolia even though she was certain she wasn't supposed to. She twirled it in her fingers, watching as the petals spun like the dresses of a coquette. "_Khan_," she continued, watching the flower. She could see him turn to her from the periphery of her vision, but did not face him. "That's a strange name. For London, anyway."

He smiled again, and she could tell there was a long string of thought occurring that eventually ended in amusement. "I am a genetically engineered super-human. Would you prefer I was called 'Bob'?"

Mara snorted so hard she began choking on her cigarette smoke.

"If you didn't smoke, that would not have happened," he pointed out with a toothy grin.

"Oh, shove it," she said as she suppressed the coughing fit. "I just meant that…"

"I know what you meant," he interrupted, his smile widening.

_So you were just shitting with me? Why am I not surprised._

"The technicians working on this project were each assigned specific… specimens…"

As Khan found it difficult to choose a word to describe himself and the others, Mara found herself wondering if he had not been truthful when she initially asked him if he felt anger over what he was. If he silently harbored regret, guilt, or… anger.

"To work closely with," Khan continued. His face betrayed no emotion, and Mara couldn't find any explanation for his verbal stumble. "The man assigned to monitor me was from Kolkata, India. He was given the opportunity to designate a name for me. He did so."

"I would really like the chance to talk to him about that… ask him why," Mara said, taking another drag on her cigarette.

"As would I," Khan said distantly.

"Khan! Dr. McGivers!" a tech called from the edge of the gardens.

Mara turned, Khan doing the same, but in military fashion—pivoting on one heel, then standing on point.

"You're needed on E-Level," the tech called, a knowing grin on his features, "Both of you."

Khan inclined his head once in response, and headed inside. No "after you," no "ladies first." Mara wasn't surprised. As she was learning, Khan was completely unaware of social mores and standards. Either that, or he knew, and disregarded them wholeheartedly—which seemed more likely.

E-Level was new to Mara, and she was discovering why. The entire level was open—no rooms, no hallways. There were recesses on four selected areas on four opposite walls for bathrooms, but otherwise it looked like a nine-foot tall airplane hangar. There were mats spread all over the floors, and at random intervals there were punching bags, weights, and other paraphernalia. Khan seemed at home, keying in Mara that he had been here in his last week.

"Ah, Khan, welcome back," Director Pierce said from the center, walking toward them. He was absent of his usual white lab coat, and now just wore khakis and a button-down. _The snake sheds one skin for another,_ Mara thought with amusement.

Mara jumped as she heard a pained yell. She turned just in time to see one of the 73 slammed to his back on the mat by another. They were wearing knuckle gloves and pants, nothing else. And it was clear they had been sparring in some form of martial arts. And someone had just lost.

The man who had been thrown down, instead of grumbling or complaining, accepted his opponent's skillful win and extended his hand to request help up. The two of them smiled and discussed their techniques as the victor pulled his competitor to his feet.

Although it had only been a week, never had Mara seen The 73 adhere to the social customs of flattery and joking displays of affection than with each other. It was almost as if… they didn't know what to do with humans. But with each other, they understood. It was odd.

"You're next," Pierce said, approaching Khan and clapping him on the back. Khan did not react or stumble. If anything, he looked mildly annoyed.

Khan stepped forward, obviously pleased to be able to exercise his abilities. He took a pair of gloves from one of The 73, and thanked them. Again, Mara had never heard him say thank you. Only to them.

Khan stepped onto the mat and pulled his shirt off. Mara's instinctual reaction was to take in a stunned, impressed breath. She had seen his body before, and knew it was perfect. But to see it in motion was almost art.

Khan adjusted his gloves, peering around at the others present. They all smiled, as if any of them would be glad to prove themselves in a fight against Khan.

"Not against them," Pierce said. Khan looked stricken, straightening. "I would like you to meet Jonathan. He is a lab technician. He is also a seventh degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsi and sixth-degree in Judo. I believe he'll hold his own."

Something akin to anxiety crossed Khan's features, and the smiles wiped from the others' faces. Mara knew it wasn't because Khan was worried he couldn't do it—of course he could. That meant he must have been worried about what was expected of him. How far was too far?

The man named Jonathan stepped forward. If The 73 had been modeled after anyone, it was him. He was an example of a near-perfect human body—six feet tall and all muscle. He was young, and combed his hair to the side like a Hollywood heartthrob. Mara could tell that upon first glance, Khan didn't like him. Something about that made her smile.

Jonathan received a pair of gloves from one of The 73, but it wasn't nearly as willing of a gift this time.

Stepping onto the mat, Jonathan smiled. "Wouldn't it be somethin'… if I managed to beat one of you?"

This struck a nerve. Khan knew he was better, and didn't like being toyed with as though he wasn't.

"Yes," he drawled in response, the words coming out like dry ice. "It would."

* * *

**Author's note: **I realize that, going with Abrams' configuration of Stardates, 1994 would not make Khan 300(+/-) years old in "Into Darkness." Given that "Into Darkness" takes place in 2259, it would make him only 265. HOWEVER, I decided to go with 1994, the original dates of the Eugenics wars from the original series, because in order to make him 300+, I would have had to place the Eugenics Wars in 1959 or before. Genetic experimentation is believable in the 90s. Not so much in the 50s. So either Abrams doesn't know how to do maths, or he was simply having Bones round up. You be the judge. Just know that I did, in fact, do my research :-)


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

There was pure venom in Khan's words. Mara was sure none of the Rowen employees had recognized it as such—they probably thought he was just taunting Jonathan. But if it weren't extremely unprofessional, Mara would have pulled every bill from her wallet right then and there, and put it all on Khan.

Khan held his fists ready, but did not attack. Of course, he waited for Jonathan. And when Jonathan lunged, Khan ducked easily to the side, spinning as he did and delivering a back-kick to Jonathan's spine. Jonathan yelped, grasping his back and stumbling. Mara saw the momentary grin that spread across Khan's lips.

"Sorry, chap. Don't know my own strength," he said with genuine pleasure, and every single one of The 72 laughed quietly. Of course he knew his own strength.

This statement obviously angered Jonathan. He swung again, this time pummeling with fists quicker than Mara had ever seen any man do so.

Any man except Khan.

Khan deflected his punches easily with slightly open palms, dodging and moving like he was on a springboard. And when he finally attacked, it took the breath from Mara's chest.

He lunged at Jonathan's stomach with all the force of a linebacker, tackling him to the ground. Mara could hear the wind leave Jonathan's lungs as he was hit, but he continued grappling with Khan. Almost everyone standing close stepped nearer, and Mara could see the smiles returned to The 72. They wanted him to beat Jonathan. Badly.

Mara twitched as she watched the fists fly. Blood began to spread on the mat, and it was unclear whose it was.

The grappling shifted suddenly as Jonathan got an arm around Khan's shoulder, pulling himself to the side and twisting around to kneel behind Khan. He managed a choke hold around Khan's throat. For a split second, it seemed to worry him.

Mara saw the smile at the corner of his lips just before he moved.

He lurched forward, using Jonathan's unbreakable hold as leverage as he threw him over his own head, slamming him to his back on the mat in front of him. Jonathan choked and wheezed as the breath left him once again. His grip on Khan's neck broke almost instantaneously.

Before Khan could use the opportunity, Jonathan pulled something from his pants' pocket. It looked to Mara like an electric shaver…

With shock, she quickly found out. Jonathan slammed the object against Khan's chest, and Khan cried out, falling violently to the mat. Several of The 72 looked like they would jump in. A select few of them looked ready to kill Jonathan. It worried Mara. It was Alpha dedication. To the extreme.

Jonathan smiled, getting slowly to his feet. He held the weapon out for all to see, wiggling it back and forth proudly. A Taser, that much was clear now.

"What are you doi…" Mara began to object. Only when Pierce held up a hand to silence her, did she realize she had taken two long strides toward the downed Khan.

"I want him to learn something from this," Pierce said.

"What?" Khan gasped, a hand over his heart. His hands shook as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. "That all humans cheat?"

"No, that most humans are going to compensate for your superiority with the use of weapons. You—unarmed—must be better than an armed human," Pierce replied quietly.

The lesson obviously made sense to Khan, but Mara could still see anger at having had to learn it in such a way. His eyes burned with fury as he turned back to Jonathan. Jonathan was smiling, waving the Taser at Khan tauntingly.

Mara had half a mind to tell him how stupid that was, but the other half wanted him to fail.

Khan leapt forward again, this time with the appropriate knowledge. When Jonathan lunged at him with the Taser, Khan dodged, letting Jonathan's arm go past him and grabbing the wrist once it was completely extended. With a violent jerk, he snapped the Taser from Jonathan's grasp, and it fell with a _thump_ to the mat. Placing one hand on Jonathan's collar bone, Khan pushed him back, throwing a leg up and slamming it down on his chest. He used the momentum to carry both of them to the ground—Jonathan on his back, Khan on his.

With a leg on Jonathan's chest and a hand still grasping his wrist, it was incredibly easy to yank him into an arm bar. Jonathan's face was twisted in pain, but he still tried to struggle from Khan's grasp. It was like trying to wrestle with a locomotive.

Khan leaned forward, looking down at Jonathan's face. "Compensate for this," he snarled, and yanked back hard.

Jonathan screamed as a loud _pop_ was heard from his arm. Pierce rushed forward, followed by a few others. To Mara's slight horror, Khan still wasn't letting go.

Pierce and three other technicians grabbed him, pulling him back.

"That's enough!" Pierce cried, yanking him back and leaving Jonathan in a crumpled heap, screaming and holding his arm.

As Pierce held him back, Khan resembled a dog shown his next meal. He didn't want to be restrained. He was fighting Pierce for another go at Jonathan. For the chance to really tear him apart.

"Khan!" Pierce cried against him, and it finally got his attention. He calmed, his eyes focusing as he turned slowly to face Pierce.

"_That's enough_," Pierce said again.

Khan looked shaken, as if he had been in a fit of rage. He sank back, and the technicians finally released him. Mara rushed forward, kneeling in front of him as she saw two other doctors rushing to Jonathan's aid.

"Khan," Mara said cautiously. "Look at me."

He looked up at her, slowly, like he was afraid of what he would see. She only displayed worry.

"Would you see him back to his stateroom," Pierce panted, standing and straightening his shirt and tie. "Check him over, ensure that the Taser didn't do any heart or circulatory damage."

"Of course," Mara said, standing. She held a hand out to help him to his feet, and he took it. She wouldn't realize the enormity of that until much later.

Once in his room, Khan paced. It was slow and measured, like he was trying not to punch a hole in the reinforced walls. His face was flat and emotionless, but Mara knew he himself was nothing close.

"Are you alright?" Mara asked, closing the door behind her.

"Of course I'm alright," he responded shortly.

"That's not what I mean," she said, and he stopped. He didn't look at her, but he visibly attempted to take calm breaths.

"Yes," he said simply.

"You don't look it," she said. "You were very angry."

"Of course I was," he said, his tone raising as he turned. "He pulled a weapon on me."

"You expected that he wouldn't?" she asked.

"No, I considered every angle of that fight," he replied curtly. "But he behaved like a coward. He saw that I was going to best him, and cheated."

"Men cheat," Mara said, taking Khan's wrist and leading him to the bed. She forced him to sit, and took some gauze and alcohol from her medical bag. "It's in their nature."

She soaked a gauze swab, and lifted it to his face, where blood rested on his nose and lips.

"That's not necessary," he said, stopping her hand.

"You may not be bleeding anymore, but you're still covered in blood," she said, pushing his hand away. He let her, and it was another subtle move that she catalogued for later.

"You got angry," she repeated as she wiped his nose and lip. Of course, there was no cut beneath the blood smears.

"He insulted me. He and his team went to so much work to create someone like me, then he acted like he could have actually hoped to beat me," Khan said, looking past her.

"Oh, so you're angry because he belittled the work Rowen put into you? No. He was an insult to _you _personally, and you knew it," she said, and he finally looked at her. It was the stare of a predator, and she knew why—she had nailed it.

"You don't actually think he would have truly hurt you, given the chance… do you?" Mara asked, laying the bloody gauze on the floor and taking out her stethoscope.

"Of course I do. Men become beasts when fighting others," he said.

"You are worth millions to him," Mara replied, looping her stethoscope around her neck. "If there's anything men can be motivated by, it's sex and money."

The comment was meant to be made under her breath, but Khan raised an eyebrow at her.

"Sorry, that was unprofess…"

"You think I'm not?" Khan interrupted as she pushed the stethoscope up his shirt and laid it against his chest.

"What use could you have for money?" she asked, listening for his heartbeat.

"They created us as young men and women in peak physical condition, most of us no older than what you would call thirty. I wasn't talking about money," he said with finality.

Mara completely lost count, and the stethoscope fell from her hand. She looked up at him, and the same sly grin was gracing his lips.

"I've startled you," he said with a knowing raise of the eyebrows.

"I, uh… I… yes," she said with an uncomfortable laugh, realizing that, while she had dropped the stethoscope, her hand was still up his shirt… resting on his chest.

She pulled away from him, pushing her hair behind her ear nervously.

"Why?" he asked, watching as she fiddled with her medical supplies… doing anything to occupy herself and avert her eyes.

"I… well, I…" she began, clearing her throat as she placed her stethoscope back in her bag.

"You didn't think I _knew_ those things, did you?" he asked, standing. The move made her extremely aware of how small his room was.

"Well, I… I didn't think they would have taught you…" she began, a newly acquired stutter forcing extreme underlexiclization.

"They didn't," he said, handing her the bottle of alcohol, which she had left on the floor at his feet.

She took it, suddenly aware that she was actively trying not to touch his skin.

"Now," he said in a franker tone, straightening. "If you'll excuse me, I have a socially mandated apology to make to one Mr. Jonathan Harris."

With that, he slipped past her, leaving her with the knowledge that she probably needed to be taking her own pulse.

* * *

**Author's note:** Yes, there is a reason that name sounds familiar. I did it on purpose. Just wait.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Physician's Log

London, England

Stardate 1994.91

The 73 have been active for little over a month now, and I have begun to see patterns in their behavior. I'm sure the employees at Rowen have noticed the same, but they do not discuss the extent of the project with me. As they continue to inform me, I am here to assist them. So, the information I have on the subjects, I gleaned for myself from observation.

I have taken to watching them as they train and work. I am uncertain just what, exactly, they are training for, but the regimens are intense. It is reminiscent of military training. And every single one of them masters and excels the tasks given to them within days. When they are not training, they are either working, or enjoying leisure time. While I have not been privy to most of it, I am given to understand that their work consists of studying schematics, designing their own, and building various animatronics.

Khan and I have developed something of a working friendship, if he may be said to have such a thing. He seems to genuinely enjoy my company, though I've no idea why. He seems to detest and shy away from the time spent with other humans. Perhaps it is because I'm not like the employees of Rowen—always watching and analyzing him. I simply _see _him, like any other human being. In fact, I make an effort to disregard the fact that he is different. Although it seemed to frustrate him when his sparring partner Jonathan Harris did so, it seems a welcome change in me.

In the weeks they have been together, I have watched a phenomenal transformation in The 73. Of their own accord, and seemingly without any guidance or law, they have begun to form ranks. They regard each other as equals, of course, but they understand the need for internal regulation and government.

It is no surprise to me that Khan has apparently been elected their leader and representing voice. He trusts them, and they him. He has the mind of a leader—striving for the best solution for the greatest number. Although at times, he has the mind of a military leader—turning to angry and often violent action when the safety or wellbeing of a member of his team is threatened. If kept in check, it is a very noble and dignified quality in a leader. If unchecked, however… I fear what it could become.

Dr. Mara McGivers, MD


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Mara sat in her stateroom, filing her notes, data, and logs into alphabetical order and piling them into her newly designated manila folder—_Khan_, it read. In very permanent black scribbles.

She sighed, her legs crossed under her on the plush red comforter. The notes and data were all well and good, but… she wanted to be with him more. To watch him progress. It seemed she was only being summoned now if he took a rough beating in training, and even then her job consisted of finding absolutely nothing to report.

She huffed a sigh, tossing her file to the floor next to the nightstand, and slipped on her shoes. The worst that could happen was denied entry.

She went first to the lobby, approaching her favorite pissy receptionist.

"Would you mind calling Director Pierce for me, please. It's not urgent," she said, not looking at the woman as she spoke, for she knew she wouldn't like the disdainful look.

"One moment," the receptionist said, picking up a corded phone from the desk in front of her. "Director Pierce, you have a caller at the front desk. Take your time, sir, she says it isn't urgent."

She hung up, and waited. Mara took the opportunity to check the woman's name. _Audrey_. Even the name sounded hoity.

The phone rang quickly, and when Audrey picked up, she simply handed the phone over the counter.

"Yes?" she heard the Director's familiar voice.

"Director, hello. It's Dr. McGivers," she said, uncertain of what to say. She had clearance for the B-F Levels, but she couldn't just go wandering around looking for him.

"Yes, hello," the Director said, sounding distracted. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all," Mara replied, twisting the cord around her finger. "I was just wondering… well, you see…"

She paused, gathering her words. "I'm very impressed with the progress Khan and the others have made. And, while I'm only his Physician, I was hoping… I was hoping to be able to study him a bit more."

'Study him' felt wrong. Like he was a zoo animal. But she knew the vernacular would please Pierce. After all, Khan was Pierce's prodigy, his life's work.

"Oh, yes, of course, Dr. McGivers," Pierce said in a heightened tone that suggested he was flattered by her interest. "He is on C-Level, doing some work for me. Feel free, Doctor. Your key card should suffice."

"Thank you, Director," she said, handing the phone back to Audrey.

C-Level was much like E-Level. It was completely open, with no walls or hallways, but instead of mats, weights, and punching bags, there were desks, workshops, and an entire corner of the giant room dedicated to what looked like robotics. It was their intellectual space—the place they went to do their thinking, their creating. To do whatever it was they had been created for.

Khan sat at a workbench halfway down the far wall, and Mara could feel it in the atmosphere—he was definitely the alpha. Even with his back turned to the others, they lifted their eyes when passing him, or made simple greetings. He never answered, but it didn't seem to be required that he do so. It simply seemed necessary that the others acknowledge him when interacting with his space.

As Mara approached, she could see piles of papers—architectural designs, schematics, notes, and graphs. Khan sat fixedly over a notebook, a work lamp pulled over his head, sketching intricately detailed drawings of… something.

Beside him was the strangest contraption Mara had ever seen. At the bottom, it had four pivoting wheels attached to two axels, which were in turn connected to a long pole of a spine that stretched to Khan's waist-height. It had two robotic arms, which were sifting through some of the papers, seemingly organizing by category. It didn't have much of a face—just a single mounted camera in the center of a processor, which gave it a fish-like quality.

"What is this," Mara asked quietly, pointing to the robot. It twisted, looking up at her as if it had heard and comprehended.

Khan glanced sideways at her once, his mind obviously occupied by his work. "Frank, introduce yourself," he said, returning to his sketching.

"Hello," the robot said in a robotic voice. The voice came from a speaker mounted beneath the camera. "I am Frank, animatronic assistant."

"A robot," Mara said skeptically, surprised beyond words. "You built a robot to help you?"

"Artificial intelligence," Khan said distractedly, squinting into his drawing as he set detail into his shading. "'Robot' is an archaic and demeaning word. Although I doubt I've given it the capacity to be offended."

"No, Khan," Frank said. "_Offend: to displease or otherwise irritate one's sensibilities_. As I have no pleasures, irritations, or sensibilities, offense is impossible."

"Thank you, Frank, that was a very logical and frank explanation," Khan said, his eyes never leaving his work. "Pun intended," he finished with a small grin.

"I do not understand…" Frank began.

"Of course you don't," Khan said, but dropped it, focusing on a bit of erasing.

"_Frank?_" she asked quietly, grabbing a nearby chair and pulling it close. She was aware that several of the others were watching her.

"Mary Shelley. The Modern Prometheus," Khan explained as he brushed away eraser shavings and continued. "In the story, Dr. Frankenstein creates a creature from the parts of others. Although through cultural bastardization and flawed story-telling, the creation has widely become known as Frankenstein. Ergo, Frank."

Mara's jaw dropped, but Khan, of course, missed it. She was blown away by his familiarity with literature. She doubted Rowen deemed literary studies important enough to install in his matrix of knowledge, which meant he had already read the entire story of Frankenstein. It was a classic, sure, but it actually wasn't as captivating as everyone made it sound.

"Been doing some reading, then?" she asked, peering over and trying to get a look at what he was drawing. It was hopeless. The intricacies and details were lost on her. The best she could tell, it was some kind of gun. Or maybe a refrigerator.

"Plenty, yes," he replied in a deadpan, darkening the lines of the sketch.

"Any favorites?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied, reaching down past the desk and pulling out an antique-looking text.

_The Once and Future King_. T.H. White.

"You like fantasy?" Mara asked, flipping through the pages and seeing that he had dog-eared passages. She made a note to check them for her own psychological satisfaction.

"I enjoy seeing how humans disguise their differing and often flawed opinions on morality and justice through the _metaphors_ of fiction," Khan replied, returning to his sketch.

Mara took a deep breath, trying to suppress her awe at his comprehension and level of analytical thought.

Khan sighed, leaning up and pushing the sketch away. Frank immediately took it in his bionic arms, held it up to his camera for analysis, and piled it with the other sketches.

"How… how does he do that?" Mara asked, watching Frank center the pages.

"This is the nature of artificial intelligence," Khan said, a hand rubbing his temple. "I gave him a core processor with wireless links to worldwide databases, archives, libraries. Then I gave him five-hundred gigabytes of memory, so that once he has learned something, he can catalogue it. That, I also taught him to do, in order to save space. Then, and this is the most important part, I designated ten gigs of free space—space he can fill with things he finds in archives that I have not asked him to find but that he designates may be useful or interesting in the future, based on previous searches. Thus, giving the illusion of intelligence. Hence the term, 'artificial'."

Mara couldn't help it. A breathless 'wow' escaped her. She stared at him, watching. While the explanation of Frank was a modern technological marvel, Khan seemed bored by it. Restless, even.

"I need to get out," Khan said, burying his head in his hands and ruffling his usually perfectly combed hair. Mara was unsure what he meant by it. If he meant what she thought—that he wanted out of Rowen—then there was a problem she probably needed to discuss with Pierce.

"I… what do you…" Mara began, trying to read it in his features.

"_Outside_, Mara," he said irritably. Mara nodded, realizing it was the first time he had said her name. It felt… strange, and yet extremely intriguing all at once.

"It's stifling in here. Low ceilings. Four walls of equal length. Fluorescent lighting spaced perfectly throughout the room, so shadows are forced and measurable. A normal human would go mad in here, what do they expect of us?" he said, standing and pacing.

"Ok, ok," she said, seeing the first signs of physical agitation in him. "Let's go, then. You're allowed."

"Allowed, _allowed_," he said, pacing faster and keeping his hands on his hips angrily. "Who is to allow _me_? If anything, it is I who should be making the rules for them. It _is_ what they created me for, is it not?"

Something was happening as Khan became more volatile. Every one of The 72 that was present had stopped their work, and were intently listening to his rant.

"_Khan_," Mara said softly, holding her hands out and standing slowly, like she was facing a felon with a gun. "Khan, I think you should calm down. Let's go upstairs and get some fresh air, hm? Well, you get fresh air. I'll pollute it with smoke."

She hoped the joke would break the tension in the room, and it did. Slightly. Khan half-grinned at her, nodding and taking a deep breath. The others went back to their work after a brief moment of watching their leader.

As Khan rode silently in the elevator with her, Mara deeply considered the root of Khan's outburst. He _was _better, and he knew it. But he was starting to express that sentiment now, and something told her it was very, _very_ dangerous.

The gardens were the only place Mara felt that Khan was truly relaxed. His mind was always running everywhere else, a tension filling him as he felt an urge to simply occupy his time. But when he was standing in the sun, surrounded by colors and green life… he was different. Calmer.

"I want to apologize," he said in a low tone, taking in a measured, deep breath. He angled his face toward the high sun, his eyes closed as he let the heat warm his skin. "For my outburst. It was uncalled for."

"It's quite alright," Mara said, sitting on a stone half-wall and pulling out her pack of cigarettes. "I understand how frustrating the same four walls can be when you've done nothing but stare at them for hours. _Believe me_—I'm a Doctor."

"No, it's not alright. I should not have done that. Not in front of you, not in front of them," he said, lowering his head from the sun and turning to her.

"Since when have you been so concerned with what you should and shouldn't do?" Mara asked, taking the first satisfying drag of her cigarette. "It didn't stop you when you tore through Jonathan Harris's tendon."

This genuinely amused Khan, and he gave a coy, toothless grin. "Well… _that _was warranted. This was simply childish. I was irritated from cabin-fever. It won't happen again."

Mara smiled, appreciating the human change in him.

"So," Khan began, pacing on a stone path in front of her, his hands still on his hips—an anxious remnant. "You know practically all there is to know about me. How about you? You are an American, this much I know."

"Yes," she replied, blowing out smoke but making sure to keep it away from him. His disdain for it was clear. "New Jersey. I was one of the best practitioners in the state. Or so I'm told."

"So what makes the 'best practitioner in the state' decide to drop everything—her successful career, what I can only assume was a handsome income… and fly out to London. To help a relatively unknown British Eugenics corporation monitor 73 genetic experiments?"

Mara paused, her lips stopping on her cigarette.

"Don't tell me it was the paycheck, then you're lumping yourself into the same weaknesses you attributed to men," he went on, stopping by a bird-bath and watching a pair of small Linnets bathe themselves.

"No, it wasn't," she said, continuing with her cigarette, knowing that if she didn't, it would be a tell. "Although it didn't hurt."

Khan scoffed, but it wasn't a hateful one.

"I was curious," she said, leaning back and staring up at him. He finally stopped his pacing and looked at her. "The Eugenics Wars are proving to be just that—a war. One that puts the Space Race to shame. And… well, the American programs are far from doing what Rowen has done… years from it. I wanted to be a part of it. Something…_more_ than what I already had. And when Rowen contacted me, I couldn't turn them down. Even if it meant aiding a competing country. I just had to see it for myself. Be a part of it."

Khan stared at her for a long time, his eyes contemplating her. He seemed to be making some judgment about her, and she could only hope it was a good one.

"Fair enough," he said after some time, returning to his pacing. It left Mara wondering what conclusion he had come to. "What about your family?" he said, staring intently at a particular flower. A brilliant foxglove, just bloomed. "What does your family think of your decision to aid a country not your own?

"My parents are gone," Mara said, taking a drag of her cigarette and looking away from him. "My mother died of cancer a few years ago, and the bottle took my dad a few years after that. I have a brother, but he married my best friend and then cheated on her. Needless to say we don't speak anymore."

Khan stopped his pacing again, and this time joined her on the half wall, sitting next to her. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said softly.

"No you're not," she said in a deadpan—not meant to hurt him, but simply to make the point. "You don't know what it is to have a family. Rowen took that from you."

Khan nodded, inhaling sharply. "You're right, I don't. I make my own family."

With that, he stood again, picking the foxglove and spinning it in his fingers. "They're much more trustworthy when you can choose them," he said, pulling petals from the foxglove.

"I shall have to try it some time," Mara said, and both of them smiled.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

There was something liberating about walking around in her stateroom in her underwear. She was five stories up, it would take binoculars to see her. And, well… there was no point in putting clothes on.

Mara smiled, sipping the latte she had retrieved from a machine she found down the hall. She sorted through notes and papers, organizing and re-organizing. She felt inadequate and useless on the days she wasn't needed. She didn't know her way around London, and if they needed her, she had to be on site.

She plopped _The Once and Future King_ onto her bed, flipping to a random dog-eared page. She smiled, remembering Khan's face when she asked to borrow it—he seemed amused, but not condescending. Like he knew exactly what she was doing.

The first was fairly short, and his underlining it made perfect sense.

_"In war, our elders may give the orders...but it is the young who have to fight."_

Mara sighed, sipping her latte and moving on. The second was a long passage, one that had been underlined in pencil.

_"You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then—to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn."_

The words "baser minds" had been underlined several times, and Mara got a chill. She shook it off, moving on to a new dog-ear.

_"Now, in their love, which was stronger, there were the seeds of hatred and fear and confusion growing at the same time: for love can exist with hatred, each preying on the other, and this is what gives it its greatest fury."_

The nature of this one both astounded and confused her, for, at its depth, was love. Love was something she thought he knew, or wanted to know very little of.

She flipped pages.

_"There is one fairly good reason for fighting—and that is, if the other man starts it. You see, wars are a great wickedness, perhaps the greatest wickedness of a wicked species."_

The words "wicked species" were again darkened, and Mara shivered, closing the book. It seemed all of the passages Khan liked so much were very… dark.

So, when the phone on her nightstand began ringing, she practically leapt over the bed to answer it.

"Dr. McGivers, its Audrey, with the front desk," came that oh-so-familiar voice. "Director Pierce has requested your presence on F-Level."

"Of course, Audrey, thank you."

_F-Level?_ Those were the labs. They hadn't been down to the labs since… their very first day. Mara dressed quickly, her curiosity mingling with worry.

Once in the elevator, she found herself slamming her fist on the buttons and mumbling anxiously for the elevator to go faster. She jumped when Pierce was standing directly on the other side of the elevator doors as they opened.

"My apologies for startling you," he said, his face looking strangely stoic. "Please join the other physicians over here."

He directed her into a familiar room—the suspension pods had been removed, so it took her a moment to recognize it as the very same room Khan and the others had been awakened in.

All 73 of them were present, and they stood in ranked lines—seven rows of ten, with Khan and two others standing in front. Mara had an extreme hunch that they had done that on their own.

"Dr., I've already spoken with the other physicians" Pierce said as he escorted her. There was a heavy atmosphere in the room—no one was speaking, and little eye contact was being made between the physicians and The 73.

"We are performing an important test today," Pierce continued, his voice low. "I would ask you to keep an open mind, and do not object."

"Why would I… of course, sir, not a word," she said, catching herself.

"Thank you," he said, stepping away and returning to his flock of technicians. Mara was constantly impressed by the number of new technicians she seemed to meet on a daily basis. It was as if they were coming out of the woodwork.

"The test we will be performing today is critical to understanding your systems," Pierce said, addressing The 73 directly. They stood at-ease, their feet shoulder-width apart, and their hands behind their backs. By his expression, Pierce did not expect this, but was extremely proud.

Mara had the distinct impression that they were not doing it to honor _him._

"However, the test itself is rather difficult," Pierce said, obviously finding the correct words coming harder and harder.

"I suppose I shall just tell you," Pierce said, taking off his glasses and polishing them with his sweater-vest. "We will be testing your pain threshold."

There was an audible mumble from the physicians.

"Is that ethical?"

"Forget ethical, is it _legal_?"

"If they were human it wouldn't be."

"Good lawyer could argue they're not."

Several of The 73 broke their at-ease stance to stare directly at Pierce. Khan, of course, did not move.

"I will only require it of one of you," Pierce continued. "But as it guarantees to be very… unpleasant, I did not want to force it on any of you. I wanted you to have the opportunity to volunteer."

_Yeah, you wanted them to volunteer so you wouldn't _have_ to force them,_ Mara thought irritably to herself.

Within seconds, the man to Khan's left stepped forward, adopting an at-attention stance.

"I will vol…"

"Lorran, don't speak," Khan interrupted forcefully, and the man stepped back immediately.

_Don't. Don't you dare…_

"Obviously," Khan said in a deadpan, abandoning the military stance altogether as he stepped forward and pivoted to face Pierce. He stood a mere foot from him as he spoke. "It is I that should volunteer."

_I don't think I could be _less_ shocked._

"Sir," the young man named Lorran began to protest. "I believe I am the best suited to undergo…"

"And indeed you may be," Khan said, turning to Lorran. He rested a hand on his shoulder, and Mara felt a sudden awe at the obvious emotional bond between the two. Khan had not displayed anything remotely close to that with anyone. Perhaps that was why Lorran was standing with Khan, apart from the rest…

"But this should be _my_ task," Khan said, dropping his hand and turning back to Pierce.

"It is decided, then," Pierce said simply, returning his glasses to his nose and turning to his technicians. Several of The 72 muttered amongst themselves for a moment, most of them looking awestruck at Khan's sacrifice. They continued mumbling only until Khan raised a hand to silence them.

As he stepped forward, the rest of them knelt or sat on the floor, calmly awaiting the result. Khan spoke quietly with Pierce, and Mara strained, but couldn't hear.

After a moment of discussion, Khan was assisted onto a gurney provided by the technicians.

"We will only be electronically stimulating the pain sensors in the brain, there will be no actual damage," Pierce said as he attached cords, syringes and sensors to Khan's neck, spine, and arm.

Some of The 72 looked uncomfortable—like they didn't want to be there. They were twitchy, and some outright looked away.

_This is bad_, Mara thought. _Having the others witness it… it will only solidify their loyalty to him and their abhorrence of Rowen._

For some reason, however, Mara decided not to speak. If the scientists at Rowen wanted The 72 to witness it, then they would have to deal with the consequences.

"If at any time you feel overwhelmed, you simply need to say so," Pierce said, placing his hand on Khan's shoulder.

Khan looked at Pierce's hand like he was prepared to bite it off. Then he straightened, smiled, and took a single deep breath.

"Alright, shall we begin?" Pierce said, nodding to one of his technicians.

Khan jumped as the technician, Jacob, as his name badge read, pressed a small black button on a handheld device connecting all the wires. Mara felt a twist in her stomach, a rising nausea at what she was witnessing. Essentially, it was torture.

Pierce was fiercely taking notes, and every few seconds he would nod to Jacob, who would turn a dial on his handheld device.

For the first minute or so, Khan's discomfort was nonexistent. Then he began breathing heavier, his hands forming fists. As Jacob continued turning the dial, Khan began panting harder, and his hands began to tremble.

Mara tore her eyes away for a moment to peer at The 72. Some looked extremely uncomfortable, others simply weren't watching. Lorran was kneeling calmly, but his face betrayed him. His lips were stretched thin, his eyebrows low and dangerous. And the glare was sent only at Pierce.

Mara's attention was called back as Jacob turned the dial again. This time, Khan's entire body jerked, and a small cry escaped his lips. He immediately looked angry at himself, but it was hidden behind the grimace.

"That's enough," Lorran demanded, standing.

"Silence, Lorran, I can take it," Khan growled through gritted teeth. Lorran quieted, but did not kneel. In fact, he looked ready to leap into battle.

Pierce watched Lorran for a moment before nodding to Jacob, who again turned the dial.

Khan jumped again, this time bringing his fist to his lips and biting down hard on his own flesh to keep from screaming.

Mara died to jump in, to stop them. Everything about this was wrong. But she had been specifically told not to. Pierce had known she would react this way, and had specifically warned her against it. She decided to hold her tongue, hoping Khan knew his own limits.

As Jacob turned the dial one more time, Khan yelped, lurching to the side and falling from the gurney. He knelt on the floor, bracing himself against the gurney as his entire body shook.

Lorran and Pierce spoke at the same time.

"That's _enough!_" Lorran yelled, taking a step forward.

"Turn it off," Pierce said calmly.

"No!" Khan shouted, one hand flying out toward Lorran. "Lorran, you _stand down,_ I won't tell you again!"

Lorran stepped back, his head lowering like a chastised puppy. He knelt with the others, keeping his eyes downcast.

Khan turned back to face Pierce, his body shaking. "You created me for this. _Keep going._"

Pierce was both shocked and impressed, but he nodded at Jacob.

Khan made it two more dial turns before he screamed.

Mara lunged forward, ripping the device from Jacob's hand and wrenching the dial to zero. Pierce and Jacob were so shocked by her sudden and violent movement that neither could do anything to stop her.

"That's _enough_, for Christ's sake!" Mara cried, slamming the device to the ground.

"He knows how much he can han…" Pierce began to argue.

"_No he doesn't!_" Mara shrieked. "You show me a man who knows his own limits and I'll show you _a liar._"

She turned, kneeling in front of Khan's violently trembling form. She placed a hand gently beneath his chin, forcing him to look up at her.

She could read everything in his expression. He was angry that she had stopped him—he had desperately wanted to prove exactly how much better he was. But he was also incredibly grateful. The pain in his eyes was excruciatingly clear.

As Mara stood and turned again to face Pierce, she briefly made eye contact with Lorran. He inclined an almost undetectable nod, and Mara had never felt the gratitude she felt from Lorran's gaze.

"I'm sorry, Director," she said. "But as his physician, I felt a duty to step in."

Pierce sighed, rubbing a temple as he nodded.

"Did you get what you needed?" she asked monotonously.

"Yes," Pierce said, looking at his notes and a computer printout that Jacob handed him. "If it didn't kill us, what we just did would have sent the best of us into a permanent and irreversible coma," Pierce said, motioning to himself and the technicians.

Mara nodded, unimpressed. She was actually disgusted. She spun on her heel, holding out a hand to Khan, who took it. He still shook as he pulled himself to his feet, and once there, he seemed extremely weak—like he might collapse at any moment.

"Well, then," Mara said. "_Since_ you're finished here, I am going to see Khan to his room for a medical exam. I fear he actually needs it this time."

"Yes, that's… that's fine, Doctor," Pierce said, a bit taken aback by Mara's boisterousness.

With that, she grabbed Khan's wrist, and marched him away from the torture technicians as fast as she could.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Mara stalked into Khan's stateroom, with him following at her heels. He went slowly for his bed, sitting gingerly, like he was afraid he would collapse. His expression was strong however, as he watched Mara fuming over the situation—a mixture of confusion and amusement at her temper.

"He _knew_!" Mara growled, digging in her bag for the supplies she would need. "_He knew_ you would push yourself past your limit, and he _let you!_"

"It's fine…" he tried to interject.

"No, it's not. He treats you like some lab rat, a… a laboratory _experiment_…"

"I am…"

"No, you're not!" Mara yelled, yanking her stethoscope onto her neck. "You're still a human being, Goddammit."

He paused, watching her. "Why did you do it?" he asked with a deep breath. He seemed to be recovering by the second, but Mara's anger was doing no such thing.

"Pierce… he… he said you could handle…"

"I didn't ask what Pierce thought," Khan interrupted, his eyes rolling slowly up to meet hers. "I'm well aware of what Pierce thinks. I asked why _you_ did what you did."

Mara stammered for words. "It's torture! I don't care if you're technically not human to them, it's still illegal, unethical… it's certainly not humane…"

"Why are you so angry?" he asked with a half-smile.

She huffed for a second, blowing her bangs from her face. "I… I just don't like it. He wouldn't do that to me, why is it okay to do it to you?!"

"Because that's what he made me for," Khan said, standing slowly and taking a step toward her. He was too calm.

"No! No, it's not. He made you for your intellect, and yes, your strength, but… the healing, and… and the resistance…"

"Mara," he said in a low, drawling tone. "Take a deep breath. I'm fine. It was all in my head, at any rate."

Mara took a deep breath, ripping her stethoscope from around her neck and moving to place it in her ears.

Khan's hands stopped her wrists, lowering them. He took the stethoscope, removing it from her neck and tossing it onto the desk on the other side of the room.

"What are you…" she began, but a stern look from Khan silenced her.

He took her right hand in an incredibly gentle grasp, pulling it up and placing it under his shirt, against his chest… where she could feel his heart against her fingertips.

"See?" he whispered. "Fine."

She cleared her throat uncomfortably, her fingers instinctively closing on his chest just once.

"It doesn't matter if it was in your head," she said softly, looking forward at his chest so she wouldn't have to look at his eyes. She feared what would happen if she did. "Pain is pain. He really could have…"

"_Mara,_" he growled, low and deep in his throat, and did not continue until she looked up at him. "_Stop talking._"

"Yeah, okay… I can do tha…" she stuttered, but was cut off.

His hands closed around her waist like bone clamps, and he lifted her as easily as a 5lb. weight. He walked her backward two long strides, slamming her against the desk and propping her there by slamming his body against hers. Mara heard a distinct crack in the wood as her thighs collided with the desk, but she didn't care.

His mouth was on her collar bone, alternating biting and kissing. He moved slowly, his lips sliding up her neck to her jaw. She shivered, her arms intuitively sliding up his shirt and exploring bare flesh.

"We really… shouldn't…" she tried, her words halted and strained as one of his hands ran up her ribcage.

"Which is _precisely_ why we're going to," Khan growled against collar bone, his hand navigating around her arm to rest on her neck. It was both an extremely threatening and extremely sensual position. He could easily crush her windpipe, but instead chose to run a thumb down her cheekbone, so lightly it could have been the touch of a moth's feet.

In a sudden rush of bravery and/or stupidity, Mara shoved him back, grabbing him by the throat. For some reason, he was not at all surprised or threatened.

She yanked him in to kiss him, walking forward and influencing him back. When he realized what she was doing, he snaked a hand behind her lower back, pulled her hard against him, and spun around, easily dropping her on the bed, just as she had planned to do to him.

She smiled, stretching out on the bed as he crawled on top of her like a predator.

For a split second, Mara had second thoughts.

_This is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong…_

Then he leaned up, hovering over her on his knees as he tore his shirt off. And when he leaned back over her like a predator, one arm on either side of her neck, she was done for.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Mara woke with a start as the remnant of an already-forgotten nightmare shook her. Her eyes focused quickly, as did her mind.

Khan's room. Khan's…_bed._ No clothes.

_Shitshitshitshit. What have I done?_ she thought frantically, turning in the bed to look behind her.

Surprisingly, he was still sleeping. She would have thought the jolt of her waking would have stirred him. It was odd, seeing him sleeping. The usual stoic expression he adopted was gone, replaced only by expressionlessness. He breathed slow and rhythmically, his eyes twitching beneath his eyelids.

_Dreaming_. Mara's awe at the fact he _could_ dream was slightly overshadowed by her extreme curiosity at what he could possibly be dreaming _about._

She slid from the bed gently, careful not to wake him. She reached for the first item of clothing she could find, which ended up being his shirt. It was large on her—covering everything that needed covering. She smiled to herself, pulling the collar up and smelling it.

_What am I doing?! I'm acting like a teenager!_

She shook her head, trying to shock herself back into reality. She sauntered slowly to his desk, finding several manila folders lying there, all of them embossed with giant red "classified" stamps.

Mara furrowed her brows, peering around at Khan once more to ensure he was still sleeping before she picked them up.

As she opened the first one, the iconic red, white, and blue NASA symbol stared up at her. A sinking worry and curiosity began rising in her chest, and she began sifting through the file.

Within the first file were schematics, test graphs, exploration reports, and a full damage and mission log for the Voyager 1. While she was sure she wasn't supposed to be seeing the mission log, it was the schematic for the craft's make that made her feel very guilty.

However, as human curiosity goes, she set it down and moved on to the next file, and the next. They were out of order, but the quantity of information astounded her—Sputnik 1, Explorer 1, Mariner 2, Apollo 8, and a fairly hefty file on Apollo 11.

Mara peeled open the Apollo 11 file, finding on top the most detailed schematics of any craft she had ever seen. It looked almost detailed enough to describe exactly how to build one…

"What are you doing?"

Mara yelped, spinning around to find Khan, dressed in his pants already, standing a mere foot away.

"I was just… well, I saw them, and you were…"

"I'm not angry," he said simply, stopping her stuttering.

She relaxed, turning back to the files. "Why do you have these?" she asked with exasperation.

She jumped as he snaked his arms around her midsection, his entire body pressing against hers. Every care, every curiosity floating around in her mind suddenly shattered, and she could think of nothing else but to lean into him, turning her head against him as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm probably not supposed to tell you," he said, and she could feel the vibration of his voice as his throat rested on her shoulder.

"Pretty sure we weren't supposed to do what we did," she retorted, and she could feel him smile against her ear. "But we did. Several times, actually…"

"Yes, alright," he said, a slightly self-conscious and very out-of-character tone in his voice. He stepped away, leaving her wishing she hadn't said anything. "I'm to study them," he began, stepping around her and taking the Apollo 11 file gently from her hand. "Improve upon them, if I can. Synthesize a future for the program—one that progresses these models into something more functional, less… bulky."

"Why? I mean, why is Rowen interested in space exploration?" she asked, looking down at the hoard of files.

Khan sighed, looking away from her. _This_ was the part he wasn't supposed to tell her.

"_Rowen_ isn't," he said, dropping the file onto the desk and turning his back on her so he could pace the small length of the room. "They are receiving substantial donations from various governments in order to… loan out our intellect to global parties."

"But… I thought these were the Eugenics _Wars_!" Mara said, her confusion clear in her voice. "Why would Britain go to such trouble to _win_ the race for genetic creation, only to loan it out to the highest bidding country?"

"For _precisely _that reason," he said, turning back to her. "Because they _are_ the first. And because other countries _will_ pay to use us. Like you said… men are motivated by two things. Your men are just influenced more heavily by one than mine."

She smiled, striding forward and laying both hands on his chest. "Lucky for me, I guess," she said, standing on her toes to reach for a kiss.

He pulled her close, all the angles of her body seeming to fit against his, like puzzle pieces. His kiss was strong and demanding, like everything else about him, but somehow he had never been gentler. When he pulled away, the look he gave her was unreadable. It seemed… confused.

"What time is it?" he asked, and she scoffed.

"What does that have to do with the price of cheese in China?!" she asked, wondering how he could possibly have needed the time in the middle of… this.

"I will arrive at my point, if you will kindly _tell me what time it is,_" he said, a joking grin spreading his lips.

"Alright," she said, turning to retrieve her stopwatch from her bag. She couldn't help but notice that he held her for as long as he could before she was out of reach.

"8:34," she said, tossing the watch back into her bag.

He nodded, obviously pleased. "Come with me," he said, turning and grabbing his belt from the floor, also grasping her clothes and holding them out to her. "I want to show you something. I will be needing my shirt back, though."

She grinned wickedly, reaching down for the hem. "With pleasure," she said, peeling it off as sensually as she could manage.

After a slightly expected delay, Khan led Mara down to E-Level. When the doors opened, Mara took in a sharp, very impressed gasp.

All 72 were on E-Level, training together. She had seen them all together before, but not in action. It was… overwhelming and extremely impressive.

When Khan entered, the nearest to him nodded, some of them addressing him as 'sir.'

"They call you _sir?_" she whispered, leaning close to him in the hopes they wouldn't hear her. They did, and they smiled.

Khan strolled to the center of the room, watching them as they trained solo and sparred viciously with each other. He stopped in the center of the room, his hands resting calmly behind his back.

"What, exactly, did you want to…" Mara began.

"Crew!" Khan yelled, his eyes boring into Mara's. Every single one of them dropped what they were doing, standing upright at-attention. Khan smiled, keeping his eyes trained on Mara.

"Form ranks!" he called, and within seconds, the same seven rows of ten had formed, with Lorran and another standing in front.

"First Officer Lorran, please step forward," Khan said, finally looking away from Mara.

Lorran took a single step forward, continuing his at-attention stance.

"What are you…" Mara began.

"You'll see," Khan said, and he stepped away, approaching Lorran.

"I did not appreciate your interference in the test yesterday," Khan said, and like any professional soldier, Lorran did not react at all. "While Dr. McGivers may tell you otherwise, I _do_ know my own limits, and if I require your assistance, I shall ask for it. _That being said_," he paused, taking a step back and relaxing his features. "Your concern is extremely valuable to me, and it won't be soon forgotten."

The two exchanged extremely subtle smiles, and when Khan nodded, Lorran returned to his post. Khan backed away, returning to Mara's side.

"Commander!" Khan said in a deep, authoritative tone. The man standing next to Lorran stepped forward, his chin raised with pride.

"Captain," the Commander responded, and Mara turned to Khan, eyebrows raised.

"_Captain?_" she breathed. He did not reply.

"Introduce yourself," Khan instructed.

"Commander Kent, second officer, specializing in weapons design," the Commander said in a monotone.

"Step back, Commander," Khan said. "Lieutenant-Commander, step forward."

An extremely beautiful dark-haired woman from the first row stepped around Lorran and Kent, standing at-attention in front of Khan. She didn't need to be told, as she had already seen what was expected of her.

"Lietenant-Commander Mirah, specializing in the sciences—chemicals expert."

"Step back, Lieutenant-Commander," Khan said, and she did so immediately. Mara felt a deep, sinking feeling in her chest. One of both awe and anxiety.

"Lieutenant, step forward," Khan said, and another man from the first row stepped around Lorran and Kent.

"Lieutenant Kye, specializing in the sciences—technology expert."

"Very good, Lieutenant," Khan said, and Kye returned to his post.

At that point Khan turned to face Mara, an extremely proud grin on his features. "Ensigns, identify yourselves," Khan said, his eyes locked only with Mara's.

A single yell was heard from almost half of the remaining group, and it was so well-timed that the cry echoed in the long, empty space of E-Level.

"Midshipmen, identify yourselves," Khan continued, watching Mara for a reaction. She watched them this time instead of him, seeing the rest of the group give the same loud, unified cry.

"I don't understand," Mara said, her voice feeling small and weak.

"Now you know my family," Khan said, his voice wavering but strong.

Mara felt as if her heart skipped a beat.

"Crew, recite your oath!" Khan yelled, and as a single, unified voice of both men and women, the entire group spoke.

"Seventy-three voices, one mission—a united force of superior minds striving for advancement. Among us, we are equal. Rank will be fluid—no individual shall be in want. Progress will be imminent—never should we be idle. Strive to the future, embrace the past. As one voice—seventy-three superior voices, functioning for one progress."

Khan nodded, a generous smile on his lips.

"You did this?" she asked under her breath, fear obvious.

"I did," he said, watching them.

"Pierce doesn't know?" Mara asked.

"There are cameras in this room. I'm sure he has _seen_," Khan replied, stepping forward and letting his eyes study his first officer for a moment. "But he has not heard our ranks, he has not heard our oath. It is for us alone to keep. What we do on our own time is our business. This is how we chose to spend it. A constantly changing, morphing body of 73 beings, and he expected we would _not _form a unit? For the victor of the Eugenics Wars, he has much to learn."

A muted, blanketing laugh fell over The 72, and Khan smiled at them.

"You're dismissed," Khan said, and they scattered, slowly, returning to their previous activities. All, except Lorran.

He approached Mara, adopting an at-ease stance so he wouldn't appear threatening. Khan watched him curiously, just as Mara did.

"I wish to extend my gratitude," Lorran said simply. "Khan has introduced us as his family, and I assure you," he paused to spare a sideways glance at Khan. "The sentiment is mutual."

Khan smiled, and Mara waited for Lorran to continue.

"While I'm sure he was equally displeased with your interference," he said, and Khan smiled wide, looking away. "I am grateful to you for having stopped them. I believe you are correct in assuming that he has no _idea_ where his limits lie…"

"Oh, you do, do you!" Khan said, smiling. He shoved Lorran hard, and Lorran lost his balance, stumbling away from Mara.

"I… wasn't… finished!" Lorran yelled, returning to a smiling Mara and extending a hand.

"Thank you," he said genuinely, and Mara looked down at his hand in shock. None of them had ever offered such a gesture to a human. Never. Khan was obviously as shocked as Mara.

"My pleasure," Mara replied, taking Lorran's strong grasp, and shaking it twice.

Lorran smiled, nodding to both of them as he returned to the mats.

"So?" Khan asked, returning to her side and watching them. "What do you think?"

"I think… they're a very loyal family," Mara said, turning her head to look at him. He did the same. "I think they would follow you anywhere."


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Why you?" Mara asked as she walked with him through the gardens the next day. She had thought about nothing but their "crew," and the oath all night. It was bordering on dangerous, and she half-considered telling Pierce. Yet… she had slept with Khan. Which complicated it on an entirely unknown level.

"Why me?" he asked in a clarifying tone. He walked as he usually did—spine perfectly straight, hands behind his back, one placed firmly on the palm of the other.

"Why did they choose you? To lead them?" she asked. For the first time in a while, she wasn't feeling the urge to smoke. She knew a psychoanalyst would have a field day, but she decided not to focus on it.

"I'm not sure," he said, staring up at the sun and blinking slowly as he basked in the hot rays. It was an odd day for London—sunny. "It just synthesized that way. Leadership forms like a seed planted—it grows…slowly…until suddenly it takes form. I gave them what they wanted and needed, and they did the same for me. And in the end, they saw fit to name me."

"I haven't been able to see you with them a lot," she said. "How is it they trust you so much? Lorran looked about ready to die for you the day before yesterday… in the labs."

"Yes he did," Khan said with a curt nod. "Loyalty is not something you can command. It is not something you can buy or bargain for. It is earned. And apparently I've earned it."

Mara knew there was something he wasn't telling her, but she had now posed the question two different ways, and he had skirted it both times. She decided to drop it… for now.

"In the oath… they said "rank will be fluid…" she began anew.

He nodded. "Rank inherently breeds jealousy and want. Those in power abuse it, those without it desperately strive for it—and eventually it sows discord. In our system, positions will shift, so no man or woman will ever feel trapped."

"But I assume you'll always be 'Captain'," she asked with a smile.

"Of course not," he retorted. "I am as subject to the oath as they are. They did not make it to me, we made it together. If a single one of them feels I am unworthy of my position, I will forfeit it to another. One we deign worthy as a whole."

Mara let out a hissed breath, her admiration of him threatening to turn to fascination.

"So why Naval formation? 'Captain,' 'First Officer,' etcetera. Why not army, or the like?"

"It is my belief that the Naval formation is the most successful and efficient for operating a vessel. As a single unit," he replied.

"Are you… planning on operating a vessel?" she asked with surprise.

He smiled, but did not respond.

"Khan, I… I don't know what to do… about… _what we did_," she said, changing the subject and lowering her voice in case there were others in the garden.

"You regret it?" he asked, not looking at her.

"No," she said, too quickly and too enthusiastically. "No," she said again, calmer this time. "It's just… it's the most unprofessional thing I've ever done… fraternizing with a patient."

"I think it's safe to say this is the most unique case you've ever had," he said, stopping by the fountain and sitting on its exterior wall. "And, one could argue that I'm not actually your patient, I'm a case study."

"Still, I…"

"Let me put it this way," he interrupted. "What two people do on their own time is their own business. Yes?"

She smiled at the completely rationless rationalization. "Yes," she agreed.

"Good," he said with a nod He looked away, taking a deep breath of the thick, humid air. "Are you doing anything this evening?"

_Smooth._

"No," she said with a bright smile.

* * *

**Author's note:** sorry some of them are so short, that's just how they happen. I'll try to update more often when they're short like this :-]


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

When she entered his room, he was seated at his desk with a belt tied around his arm as a tourniquet, taking a sample of his own blood. The desk lamp was angled down, illuminating his arm and torso, and Mara watched for a moment as he removed the syringe and set it on his desk.

"Hello," he said quietly, removing the belt and shaking out his arm. "You're early."

"If you're early, you're on time; if you're on time, you're late," she said, familiar with his affinity for literary and cultural references.

He stopped what he was doing to look up at her momentarily and smile.

"What did you have in mind for this evening?" she asked, tossing her jacket on his bed.

"Well," he began, standing from his desk and picking up several folders. "I'd like to show you what I've been working on."

The fact that he hadn't already done so told her it was one of those things he wasn't supposed to be sharing.

"Something tells me you're not supposed to," she said lightheartedly.

"Well… depending on your definition of 'wrong,' I've done several things in the last few days that I _shouldn't have_," he said with a coy smile.

"Why, Khan, are you making an indecent joke?" she asked, taking a step forward and laying a hand on his chest.

He took in a long, deep breath, looking down on her and admiring. She had never felt as special or as unique as when Khan looked at her. For some reason, having the admiration of one of the world's most superior human beings just made it… better.

"I'll leave you to your own conclusion," he said, pushing her hand away and bringing his between them. "I've been meaning to give you this."

As she looked down, she found a key card in his hand; one marked "Henry Pierce, Chief Director of Science Operations." Mara furrowed her brows, looking up at him.

"Just in case," he said in response to the unasked question. He dropped the subject as abruptly as he had brought it up, and raised the folders between them.

She took them, staring at him through her eyebrows for a moment as she sauntered to the bed to sit, slipping Pierce's key card in her back pocket. As she opened the first folder, she was met with both confusion and curiosity.

They were his sketches, a great many of them. Most were futuristic and strange-looking weapons, others were some sort of schematic.

"What…" she began, studying one of the weapons. Khan sat next to her, watching her as she studied the drawings.

"A 'phaser' gun," he said, taking the sketch. "If the technology holds, it will kill without a projectile, eliminating the need for ammunition. It will also have the ability to stun; to do exactly what Jonathan Harris's Taser did to me, but without the cords or electricity," he said simply, pointing to a key and labeled 'parts' section.

Most of the details were lost on her, but the design seemed sound. Through some sort of new-age projectile-less energy bullet, the gun would target nerves and synapses in the human nervous system, incapacitating it with little to no brain or bodily damage.

She flipped to the next page—a long-range missile of some kind.

"This one will take some extra planning," he said, pointing to more maps and keys. "Many subjects will need to be injected with the serum pre-launch, or it will do nothing. But, once injected, the victims will be the only targets. The missile will detonate, releasing a shock-wave of a very specific frequency—one that causes a reaction in this serum I have concocted. It will cause anemia in the injected, making it a silent but very accurate killer."

Mara's heart sank, and her hands dropped to her lap as she looked sideways at him.

"I thought your mission was to create peace," she asked in a whisper, her face inches from his.

"It is," he replied softly, looking down at the sketches. "Battles are lost in the same spirit in which they are won."

"Another of your quotes?" she asked with a smile.

"Walt Whitman," he said in response, obviously happy she had pegged it as such. "_This _is what I have been assigned to do via Director Pierce…." He paused, and something in his eyes looked conflicted. "How can one lead a world at peace without first ending all wars?"

Mara let out a stressed, tight-lipped breath. "This… this is… terrifying," she said honestly.

"I agree," he replied, taking the folders and tossing them to the floor. "But I wanted you to know what he's had me do…"

It sounded like there was more to the statement. As if he were going to say, "I wanted you to know _before I…_"

But he did not continue. His face changed—turning emotionless and hard. He leaned into her, forcing her back and crawling on top of her. One hand reached around her neck, holding her vice-tight as he leaned in to kiss her. Where his kiss was usually gentle and slow, he seemed anxious and hungry. His grip on her neck felt dangerous and rushed.

"Khan, are you okay?" she asked against his lips, pulling back against the pillow and looking at him.

He turned his face away so she couldn't look him in the eyes. "Fine," he said quickly, and it was obvious he was making an effort to change his attitude. His body relaxed, and his grip loosened.

"Just… restless, is all," he said, turning back to her. The danger in his expression was gone, but something told her the danger wasn't. He was simply a master of masks.

She reached up slowly, resting both hands gently on either side of his jaw. "What is it, Khan?" she whispered softly. "What's wrong?"

He stared at her for a long time, his body hovering over hers. She felt safe there, like nothing in the world could get to her through him.

"Do you believe that I'm capable of love?" he asked, staring her in the eyes to gauge her true reaction.

She thought for only a moment. "Yes," she said, one hand curling through his hair. While it was obvious he was trying not to, he leaned into her, his eyes blinking slower than usual as he reveled in her touch.

"Do you believe I have a soul?" he asked.

"_How dare you,_" she whispered, pulling him down and kissing him. "How dare you ask that. Of course you have a soul. You are a human being. You feel, you act, you…"

She lost her reasoning as she realized he was trembling, his face obviously trying to conceal some deep-seeded anxiety over the matter.

She raised a leg, using it as leverage as she flipped him over on the bed, switching positions and straddling him. She let her whole body rest on him as she kissed him long and slow.

"You are the most 'human' man in this entire damn facility," she said, gripping his hair tightly and pulling him in for a kiss.

It was as if he didn't believe her—the way he kissed her back. Like the only way he would be convinced was if she forced him.

Which was fine with her.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Physician's Log

London, England

Stardate 1994.126

I'm not really sure what to say anymore. I'm not even sure who's going to be reading these… Pierce? He wouldn't waste his time.

So I'll just come out with it. I'm involved with Khan. At first I was ashamed and disappointed in myself—having sexual relations with a patient. But then, as it continued, I began to consider it further… to truly think about it.

The employees at Rowen are like drones—they wander around on a daily basis with one unifying mission; control and subvert their genetic creations. Pierce isn't above it, either. They act like they respect and adore The 73, but they're really just condescending to them—attempting to control and contain them. They smile to their faces, but their end goal is still the same—prove their dominance as a company and as the champion nation of the Eugenics Wars.

Khan, on the other hand, seems oddly at-ease. He is as calm and collected as ever, running regular routines with The 72. I have this sinking feeling that something is coming… that things simply cannot progress in stasis like this. Khan and the others seem to be aware of their superiority, and crave independence, even if on a subconscious level. It is as if they are waiting for something that just won't come… not to mention the plans and weapons that Khan has revealed to me. He did so in confidence, so I am bound to keep them in secrecy, but I am afraid. I am afraid of what will happen when these plans come to fruition. Will Khan and the others simply hand them over like good lap dogs? I highly doubt it.

The employees of Rowen seem to be progressing in the opposite direction. They run their laboratory tests more regularly, like they are trying to prove their control and subjugation of The 73.

And with my feelings for Khan complicating the whole thing, I am lost on what to do.

Dr. Mara McGivers, MD.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

8:30 on a Tuesday morning. That meant The 73 would be training.

Mara packed up her things and headed to E-Level, for no other reason than to watch them. And Pierce approved of and appreciated her admiration, so it wasn't suspicious to him at all when she was simply hanging around. She hadn't planned it that way, but it was working in her favor.

Oddly, Pierce and a few dignitaries were on E-level as well. The men were in suits, and seemed to be very important by the way Pierce was regarding them. Perhaps CEOs? Pierce was the Director, but there are always bigger fish.

Khan was on a far mat with one of the officers Mara had been introduced to… Kent was his name. They were sparring lazily, exchanging halfhearted kicks and punches, but their eyes were on Pierce. They were analyzing the dignitaries with extreme scrutiny.

"Mara, welcome," Pierce said with a smile, beckoning her closer. Mara could see a visible shift in Khan's attitude when he noticed her presence; he stopped scrutinizing the men so hard, and tried to focus on sparring with Kent. Although he kept looking at her, as if to judge whether or not she was supporting them.

"This is Jack Davidov, our Chair," Pierce said, and Mara shook his hand. He was a stout man, in his early fifties, with beads of sweat gracing his hairline. He was overall pleasant, however, as he was constantly smiling or grinning.

"And this is his son, Lewis, our Vice Chair," Pierce said with a happy but obviously eager grin.

Mara shook his hand, already pegging him for the condescending type. He was looking around at The 73 like he was afraid of them—like they were lab rats that could bite him.

"Lorran?" Pierce called, and the handsome blond stepped forward, standing just in front of Pierce at-attention.

"Lorran, I was wondering if you would demonstrate your abilities to my friends, here," Pierce asked.

Lorran looked them over once, and Mara could see Khan watching him from afar, carefully analyzing the situation.

"My pleasure, Director," Lorran said without smiling. "What would you have me do?"

Pierce thought for a moment, and before he could come to a conclusion, Khan stepped away from Kent, nodding to him as he did so, and approached.

"I think I have an idea, Director," Khan said with a sly grin. "Although, with any luck, I won't snap this one's tendon like a dry leaf."

The chairs and Lorran laughed together, but Mara sensed that they were laughing for completely different reasons.

"Alright, Khan," Pierce said, nodding. "Show us what you can do."

Khan stepped back, slapping Lorran's hand once in sportsmanship. Mara had seen Khan spar with The 72 before, but he hadn't been showing off. Khan felt that need—to display exactly how perfect he was. Although something inside her told her that Lorran wasn't about to go down without a ferocious fight.

Mara was expecting the slow build-up of the Jonathan Harris fight. She received nothing of the sort.

It started like a dog fight. They launched at each other, moving so fast that sometimes Mara's eyes couldn't follow them. They were on the ground within moments, and the way they went at each other was certainly reminiscent of a dog fight.

The viciousness with which Khan pummeled his first officer made Mara realize exactly how easy he'd gone on Jonathan Harris. Lorran was bleeding from the nose within seconds of hitting the mat, and soon after had a split in his eyebrow.

He wasn't exactly taking all the blows, however. On numerous occasions, Khan would sacrifice sure footing for a landing blow, and Lorran knew exactly when he did—utilizing it to sweep Khan's feet from under him and pin him.

He never pinned him for long, however. Khan always managed to grapple his way free, getting Lorran on the mat instead. It was a vicious match, but Mara could see in both men that neither was truly trying to hurt the other. Of course, with their advanced healing and capacity for pain, their definition of 'hurt' was much different than hers.

In a split second, Khan changed. He had shown what he could do, and Mara sensed he wanted to finish it… with a bang. He snaked a hand around Lorran's upper chest, yanking back hard and slamming him down on his back. Lorran choked once, but gave a quick, rushed laugh as he appreciated the savagery of the move. Before Lorran could recover, however, Khan leapt on top of him, pinning him by the throat and raising a first high in the air.

And that was when he stopped completely, paused in mid-strike like a statue. He and Lorran stared at each other with a mutual respect, but it was clear that Khan would not deliver the finishing blow.

Pierce looked around uncomfortably, then looked back at Khan. "Finish him," he demanded simply.

Khan looked stunned for a moment, pivoting to look at Pierce, but not letting Lorran up.

"He'll heal, _finish it_," Pierce said.

There was a deadly silence in the room, and Mara swore she could hear her own heart hammering against her chest. Pierce would never have demanded such a thing on a regular basis… this was to show off to the Chairs. But it was a _terrible_ idea.

"I will not," Khan responded simply, leaning back and standing, allowing Lorran to lean up.

"I _demand _that you…" Pierce began, but was cut off.

Exploding like a gun shot, Khan bolted to stand before Pierce, pulling something from the back of his pants.

It looked incredibly like the gun design Khan had shown her. In fact, she was almost positive it _was_ the gun he had designed. And he was holding it at arm's length, right at Pierce's heart.

There were seven technicians in the room, and every one of them pulled a pistol, aiming it at Khan. Mara's heart leapt into her throat as the nearly-twenty of The 72 present began slowly forming ranks behind Khan. Lorran leaned up, but did not stand. It was probably wise; one quick move and shots would fly.

"_What was that, Pierce?_" Khan hissed, a deadly venom in his tone. "You _demand_ it of me?"

Pierce was unmoving, as were the chairs beside him.

"I hardly think you have any right to demand _anything_ of me," Khan whispered, his eyes completely unworried about the seven pistols trained on him.

"Seven pistols says I do," Pierce retorted, but his voice was wavering.

"Tsk, tsk," Khan clicked his teeth in reprimand. "You made me to withstand things like that. I _highly_ doubt seven bullets would kill me. Even if every… last… one… hit me in the head," he said with a sickening enjoyment.

"Are you willing to risk it?" Pierce asked, staring down the barrel of Khan's handmade but very lethal-looking weapon.

"Are you?" Khan growled, twenty of his finest lining up behind him.

Khan and Pierce stared each other down for what seemed like ages. Mara swore she could feel the temperature lower in the room as the ice in their eyes seeped out. The chair and vice-chair looked ready to flee.

Surprisingly, it was Khan who broke first.

He smiled, breaking the stare and lowering the gun. He spun it in his hand easily, like an old western, and held it out toward Pierce to give it to him. Pierce did not move, nor did the seven technicians and twenty AHLs.

"Your resolve is as thick as mine," Khan said through his obviously forced smile. "A 'phaser' gun," he said, nodding down at the weapon he was handing over. "Two settings; stun, and… well…"

The twenty men and women behind him laughed softly, and Pierce cautiously took the phaser gun.

"For future reference, Pierce," Khan began, taking a step back and offering a hand to Lorran, who took it.

"I will never harm a member of my family," he said as he pulled Lorran to his feet.

Pierce finally shifted his stance, relaxing his shoulders and putting his hands on his hips—as if unsure what to make of Khan's refusal.

"You have no family," Pierce muttered, peering down at the weapon.

Khan smiled dangerously. "Careful, Henry," he growled, and the way he said Pierce's name made it sound like he was marked.

Pierce narrowed his eyes, obviously angry at being talked down to, but didn't stare long. Khan turned his back, heading for the elevator and leaving Pierce and the two Chairs staring in bewilderment.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Mara went straight to Khan's room after leaving E-Level, but he wasn't there. So she checked the only other place she knew he found peaceful—the gardens.

She could see him from inside—he was kneeling in a kind of meditation next to the fountain, his eyes closed and turned toward the sun. Mara watched him for a moment, watched him simply breathe, his fists clenched so tight the knuckles turned white, and decided to let him be. Sometimes solitude was the best company.

She found herself back in her stateroom after that, realizing that her hands were shaking from the adrenaline of being in a room with a near-firefight. She set her bag on the floor, slowly running her hand through her red-brunette hair anxiously as she considered the situation.

How would Pierce react? Would he let Khan get away with that? He had let him get away with nearly crippling Jonathan Harris because he was proud to show off Khan's strength. But this… this, he had done in front of not one, but _two_ company Chairs. Pierce was just as much of an alpha as Khan, just in a different way. And Pierce did not like being belittled.

Just as Mara's nerves began to settle, there was a hard, rapid knock on her door. She jumped, letting out a yelp, then laughed at herself as she went to answer it.

"Yes?" she asked as she pulled the door open, but she was quickly cut off.

Before she knew what was happening, he was rushing in to her stateroom, slamming his body against hers and pinning her against the wall. She yelped as she hit the wall, his form trapping her there. He kissed her hard and vicious, his lips crashing against hers with painful force.

"Khan?!" she gasped against him, trying to pull back but only managing to redirect his lips to her jawline and neck. "What are you… you can't be up he…"

With brutal force, he pulled back, taking both her wrists and slamming them against the wall above her head. He hung over her in a very threatening way, gritting his teeth in anger and hovering inches from her lips.

"Please, Mara, if you know what's good for you, don't _ever_ tell me what I can and cannot do," he growled, obvious rage in his voice.

"Okay," she said gently, softening her face. "I only meant that I didn't think you could get up here."

He stared at her for a moment, and she could tell that his anger was dying.

"Khan… you're hurting me," she begged, her wrists feeling as if two Ram trucks were resting on them.

He looked up at her wrists, quickly leaning back and releasing her. He turned away, his anger turning to shame as he buried his face in his hands. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice muffled by his palms. He began pacing the length of her stateroom, his hands trembling quite badly with anger, or anxiety… or both.

"Khan, _what's wrong?_" she asked, following him down the length of the room and stopping his pacing by wrapping her arms around his waist. From this, she could tell that his entire body was tense and shaking with rage.

"Something's wrong, and it has been for days," she continued, holding him tightly and resting her head against him. "First the question about your soul, now _this._"

He made an effort to calm himself by taking a deep breath, and he shuddered as he did so. Mara couldn't recall ever being that mad in her life.

His hands slowly found her back, and he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Of all the familiar places…" he murmured, pulling her tighter, like there was no degree of closeness that would be enough.

"What?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Nothing, it's just a… nothing," he said, his body finally relaxing. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"I'm sorry Pierce asked that of you," she said, and she felt a tenseness rise in his arms again.

He held her closer, one hand running up and down the skin of her left arm. "If you knew this to be your last night on this Earth… how would you spend it? Would it be with me?" he asked sullenly.

When she pulled back to object, he continued.

"Am I simply convenient? Or am I more?" he asked, staring her down like he had Pierce.

"Okay, I don't know why you would ask me 'if it was my last night,' but know this; you have always been more. You are stronger. You are smarter…"

She could tell this was not the answer he was looking for, so she hurried to her punch line.

"And you mean more to me than anyone," she said, raising a hand to brush it through his hair.

"Say it, then," he demanded, his hands forming fists in her shirt at the small of her back.

She hesitated, not because it wasn't true, but because she feared what it would unleash in him.

"_Say it_," he growled. He looked about ready to toss her to the ground like he had Harris. Like, if she didn't say it, the other Khan would come back out.

"I love you, Khan," she whispered, staring up at his predator's eyes.

As soon as the words left her mouth, he violently lifted her, wrapping her legs around his waist and carrying her to her bed. He collapsed on top of her, attacking her in every possible way. He didn't even bother with the buttons on her shirt, he simply ripped it from neck to naval.

His ferocity scared her, but she couldn't stop him… wouldn't. She grabbed a handful of his hair, as if it were the only thing keeping her from falling over a great cliff. She panted against him, whimpering as he tore at the rest of her clothes.

He pulled his own shirt off as quickly as he could, his hands shaking as he went for his belt buckle.

She knew he was angry, and that he would probably hurt her. She embraced this realization, yanking him back down on top of her by his hair.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

When Mara awoke, she felt pain everywhere. Both the good and the bad. She had known he was angry, and something primal in her had wanted it. So, as she stretched gingerly, she learned to deal with the consequences.

She rolled over in the bed, finding that he had gone. For some reason, she wasn't angry or offended—she instantly knew that he could not be above A-Level for long without Pierce going Freakazoid Manhunter on him.

Mara smiled, finding that he had left a souvenir—his thin leather belt, tied around her wrist. It wasn't tight, and it wasn't the first time it had been there in the last few hours. She grinned, yanking it off and tossing it to the floor.

She could feel soreness on her arms and neck, and vaguely recalled his grip on them. She shivered, knowing how dangerous and primitive that was. He could easily snap her neck, but instead knew _exactly_ how much was too much.

She stood, reaching for her clothes and rubbing her eyes.

She peered through the semi-darkness at the clock on her nightstand. 9:38p.

It had been 10am when Khan had burst into her room, the training session beforehand causing the subsequent bruising. And now she had slept through half of the day.

_Shit._

As she was deciding whether it was even prudent to put clothes back on, the phone rang. She smiled, wondering if he had now figured out how to tap and hack the phone system. Something told her he probably did.

"Hello?" she drawled with a smile.

"Mara!" Director Pierce's voice was rushed and frantic.

"Yes…" she asked worriedly. He never called her Mara.

"Khan is crashing, get down here!"

"What do you mean he's cra…" she began to ask.

"_JUST GET DOWN HERE! F-LEVEL!_" he yelled, soon followed by a dial tone.

Mara's heart leapt into her throat, and she threw on new clothes faster than they had been torn off.

After an aggravatingly slow elevator ride to F-Level, in which she said words to the elevator that her mother would have been very ashamed of, Mara ran into the labs with no direction whatsoever.

"Doctor!" a yell came from one of the side-labs, and Mara found Pierce waving her inside urgently.

The room was positively buzzing with lab techs, so it was difficult to get a good look at him. But when she did, she could have screamed at what she saw.

He was lying on a gurney, his body seizing as if in acute shock. Blood was running from his mouth and nose, far more than Mara had ever seen in one of The 73. And he was choking violently on the blood in his throat, causing sprays to cover some of the technicians.

"What happened!" she yelled, pulling on nitrile gloves as fast as she could, and letting a tech pull a coat on her. She really didn't see the necessity, but these science types liked to keep to their rules.

"Lorran called it in," Pierce said, trying to hold a respirator over Khan's lips and only getting it covered in blood as he violently choked again. "Said they were sparring and he just collapsed… started having seizures."

_No, no, no, no,_ Mara thought over and over, panic gripping her heart. _I knew it. As soon as I said it, I knew something bad would happen._

She shoved her way to the front, looking down on him with pity and anxiety.

"What do you know?" she asked, looking to his face and finding nothing but blind agony.

"Hypoxia," one of the techs said quickly, rushing forward and attempting to put a syringe of something, Mara couldn't tell what, in his arm.

Another vicious seizure wracked him, and he yelped, his arms flailing out and his spine arching. He choked, again spraying blood across the pure white coats.

As Mara was about to turn to the techs to begin her routine, one of Khan's hands flew out and grabbed her wrist.

She looked down, finding that he was holding something in his violently trembling hand. She stilled, her heart leaping up her throat as she recognized it as an empty pill bottle. She took it, her hands beginning to shake as she raised them to read.

"Oh God," she breathed, her whole body going cold and beginning to shake with horror.

_Hydrogen cyanide._

"Christ!" she screamed, grabbing a handful of hair as panic began to grip her.

"What!" Pierce yelled, running to her side.

"Hydrogen cyanide!" she practically screamed back at him, and Pierce's face lost all color. "Can he survive that?" she asked frantically.

"I don't know…" Pierce replied in a monotone, his shock turning him to an immovable statue.

Mara stormed back to the gurney, grabbing a handful of Khan's shirt and leaning over him. "What the fuck is wrong with you? _Why_ would you do this?" she screamed in his face.

Through a seizure of pain, he managed a smile.

Almost instantaneously, a series of four massive explosions could be heard throughout the compound, causing the lights to go out and backup generators to come on, leaving nothing but pale blue light filling the lab. Sirens and alarms began sounding throughout the entire facility, and Mara could smell smoke and broken cement.

"_No…_" Pierce gasped. "No! You bastard!" he cried, running from the lab. "They're breaking out! Get us in lockdown, get this elevator running! _Why isn't this elevator running?"_

"They've bombed it, sir," a tech said in a deadpan, looking as shocked as he was afraid.

Pierce turned back to the labs, looking down at Khan. Khan still managed to smile as he choked through the blood.

"Don't create what you can't control, Pierce," he said, falling back as another seizure overtook him.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"Will the crank in the elevator work!?" Pierce was yelling at a technician as hoards of people buzzed about trying to find a way out of F-Level. Parts of the ceiling had caved in in places, leaving most of F-Level clouded in smoke and panic, and the access stairs were a dangerous option—The 72 would certainly be watching them on the floor above.

It had actually been ingenious, however heinous it was. Khan's medical emergency had required the presence of nearly every active-duty technician, and Pierce himself… trapping all of them in the lowest level of Rowen while The 72 staged an uprising and probably a riot on every other level.

"We can try, sir," the tech said, looking in at Mara, who was one of three people who hadn't abandoned the effort to save Khan. Most of the others were more worried about how they were going to escape from 6 stories below ground.

"Don't try, _get it done!_" Pierce yelled. "Until then, we can try the emergency access stairs. Brian!"

"Sir!" one of the techs who had stayed with Mara responded.

"I don't care if he lives or dies, get him to A-Level," Pierce growled, and Brian nodded.

"What are you… _are you mad?!"_ Mara yelled at Pierce as Brian stepped forward. "This is your prodigy, and you don't care if he lives!"

"Shoulda thought of that before he tried to destroy me," Pierce snarled, staring at Khan.

Khan was still choking, but he was able to stand as Brian yanked him to his feet and cuffed him.

"Resist much, obey little," Khan said, spitting a mouthful of blood toward Pierce.

Pierce narrowed his eyes. Mara tried to resist the grin that crept to her face as she recognized it as another of Khan's famous lines. She subconsciously wondered who it was.

Khan stumbled as he let the techs drag him toward what looked like a ventilator shaft.

Everything within Mara screamed to run after him, but she knew better. She would simply have to find him later.

She turned in time to hear Pierce addressing another tech… who now carried a weapon. Mara began wondering if all of them doubled as guards and mercenaries.

"If you can't capture or subdue them, orders are…" Pierce paused, rubbing his temples in disappointment. "Shoot to kill."

"_What!"_ Mara cried, running forward. "These people are your creations, your _life's work!_ You can't just destroy them!"

"In fact I can," Pierce snarled back, a vicious and ugly expression drowning his features. "You've seen how militarized they are in here. I can't let seventy-three vicious, trained killers loose on this world…"

"So that is what you were training them for?" Mara spat back. "They weren't here to create peace or bring global solutions. They were the next era of soldier, that's why you created so many."

"You bet your fine American ass they were!" he yelled back, all ferocity and anger. "And I'm not about to let loose 73 of the most highly-trained and skilled _murderers_ in the world just because you want to protect your precious _sex toy_!"

Mara couldn't speak. She tried, but nothing would pass the shock.

"What? Don't think I haven't seen the way he looked at you," Pierce growled, stepping closer and causing her to take a step back. "Tell me… did you actually like the little lab rat, or did you just want a go on the world's most superior _fuck_?"

Before she could stop herself, she had slapped him harder than she'd ever hit anyone or anything in her lifetime. Her palm and fingers burned as Pierce looked away, the rage mixing with the mark to make his face redden.

Pierce was positively shaking with rage as he turned back to her. "Jacob, see Ms. McGivers out of my facility before I do something I regret."

A young technician stepped forward, a gun in his hand as he grabbed her upper arm harshly, walking her to the access stairwell.

Mara began to understand why she was constantly seeing new technicians—more than half of them _did_ double as guards and soldiers.

Jacob practically dragged her into the access stairway, pulling her up the stairs. Most of the lights were out in the stairwell from the explosions, and most of the landing were littered with debris, so she stumbled every few steps when the bright yellow 'Emergency' lights weren't illuminating them. Jacob was silent as he escorted her.

Mara couldn't help but notice that there was no A-Level landing, meaning that the emergency stairwell didn't directly access it. She paused for a moment, wondering how they had gotten Khan in, and if that was even where they had taken him. And… they were offices, weren't they?

"Come on," Jacob growled, pulling her up the last flight of stairs and pushing the door open.

To Mara's surprise, the access stairs opened into a hidden stone door in the gardens. It had been right in front of her this whole time. They were dark, the only light coming from the underwater lighting in the fountain.

Jacob shoved her forward, keeping the gun trained on her. He reached in her front pants' pocket, despite her objections, taking her key card.

"How can you live with yourself?" she snapped as he turned to go back down the stairs. "They're human beings!"

"No," he barked, spinning around in the doorway. "They're not. They're robotic, drone-like scum that's been infesting this planet since the day we woke them. They're not _remotely _close to human, and even if they were, they just bombed this facility, probably killing hundreds. They're terrorists. And I will have no problem taking every last one of them out."

With that, he spun around, closing the handle-less door behind him.

Mara cursed into the eerily quiet night, listening for the screams and gunshots to come from below, but hearing nothing. She wracked her brain, pacing frantically across the stone path of the garden that she had walked too many times before… with him.

_They couldn't have gotten him into A-Level using the staircase… if that's even where they took him. But they wouldn't dare risk taking him anywhere above ground. Pierce mentioned something about a crank capability in the elevator. They could have gone through B-Level…_

But Jacob had just taken her key card. Something told her they would have a self-sustained backup generator solely for the elevator's personnel clearance.

_Pierce's key card!_

Khan had somehow managed to copy it… just once… and given it to her.

She ran through the gardens, throwing open the doors to the main level. The lights were out here, too, and the panic had spread. People were running, and their yelling was echoing through the massive atrium. Parts of the floor had collapsed downward with the blasts, bending and breaking the water mains and sending massive sprays into the foyer.

Mara ran past all of them, on a mission. She disregarded the upper-level elevator, assuming that it was probably out too, and went for the stairs. She took them three at a time, bumping and shoving past people who were hysterically descending the darkened stairs. She halfheartedly cursed that bitchy receptionist for putting her on the fifth floor as she breached the last flight of stairs, turning the corner like a madwoman and rocketing to her door.

Panic flooded her as she realized that she would need her key card to get into her room, but she began to notice that the small red dot was out that signified that a key card was needed on the locking mechanism.

With a fleeting hope, she tried the door, and cursed aloud again when it opened. The security on the upper levels must not have been as important. She smiled wide, flying into her room and using what ambient light there was to shuffle through her clothes.

_Where did I put it… where did I put it!_

She jumped as another terrifying _boom_ echoed through the entire facility, and this time the foundation shook. Mara did her best to swallow her fear and think back.

_He kissed me… handed it to me… and said 'just in case.' Where did I put it!_

The images came flooding in—him standing inches from her as he held the folders out. She had slipped it…

_The back pocket of my work pants!_

The foundation shook again, and Mara ignored it as she found the pants, ripping the key card from the pocket.

"Khan, you really _are_ a genius," she whispered, kissing it and leaping to her feet.

She practically jumped every set of stairs on her way down, only taking long strides on the landings to ensure good footing before jumping nine or ten more. It made five stories go by much faster, but it also caused for a twisted ankle and knee… neither of which she remotely cared about at the moment.

Luckily, the panic in the building helped to hide her presence. She was sure that, if there weren't an attack in progress, Pierce would have done all he could to see that everyone knew to keep her out. As it were, the word was going to be a bit hard to spread.

She ran to the elevator, manually pulling the doors open. Apparently they had gotten it running again.

With a sinking pit in her stomach, she slid Pierce's card into the reader, and pressed _'A.'_

With a jolt, the elevator began to drop in jumpy, haphazard motions. _Definitely a crank…_

It stopped at A-Level, and she wrenched the doors open as hard as she could.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

A-Level seemed almost completely untouched by the destruction, and Mara could see why. It was certainly not offices, and her denied clearance now made sense.

It was a very extensive reinforced lockup hall, with iron cells lining the walls on either side. Mara hissed out a very agitated breath, never ceasing to be shocked by the level of secrecy and mystery that Rowen kept.

Khan was in the first cell, lying on a gurney, his arms and ankles bound down by what looked like iron shackles. The seizures had stopped, but he still did not look good.

A single guard stood in front of the cell, and two doctors were inside milling about. All of them looked up at her, and she didn't recognize any of their faces. She desperately hoped they didn't know her.

"No one inside, miss," the guard said as she approached, holding his gun across his chest. His lack of hostility told her he didn't know that she _really_ wasn't supposed to be there. Obviously, with the riots occurring throughout the building, just this one clueless guard could be spared to guard Khan.

She held up Pierce's key card. "What am I going to do, steal him?" She held back a grin, as that was pretty much what she planned on doing. "I'm his physician. I simply need to see him."

The guard sighed, twitching as gunshots and muted cries could be heard from the level below.

"Fine," he said curtly, obviously in no mood. It was clear from his expression that he was considering abandoning his post and joining the more important fight.

She walked inside, approaching the gurney and peering warily at the other two doctors.

Khan's breathing was slow and labored, and he blinked slowly, as if he had been drugged… heavily.

Mara looked up to see an IV in his arm, with a drip of something. She squinted to read…

_Thiopental._

"An induced _coma?_" she demanded of the other doctors.

"It's being used as a sedative," one of the doctors said monotonously. "It doesn't put him into comatose. With his rate of regeneration, sedatives do nothing. This works on him like sedatives do on us."

Mara looked back down at him, and he slowly turned his head to look at her. There was a wheeze in his breathing, and he was obviously miserable.

"Did you get a cyanokit?" she asked, wondering if the cyanide was still doing damage.

"Not necessary," the same doctor replied. "His body will expel it. Apparently, not even cyanide can kill him. It'll just take some time."

"So what's the thiopental for?" she asked.

"So the little bastard can't engineer any more destruction," the doctor said with a sneer.

Mara nodded, trying to keep her cool. If she leapt over Khan and tore the doctor's eyes out, she'd probably get thrown out again. For good.

She looked back down at him, listening to his labored breathing.

"Why, Khan?" she whispered, her hand resting on his wrist. Hopefully it wouldn't give her away too much. Any sane person stuck in that building during four explosions would want to know why.

He grinned slowly. "Because they are… my… family," he said between difficult inhales.

Her hand instinctively tightened on his wrist. "You could have been killed."

"Yes," he said calmly, closing his eyes in obvious exhaustion. "And I would do it again if it meant getting them out."

Both of the other doctors stared malevolently at him, and Mara turned to them.

"I'll take it from here," she said simply. "Pierce needs all nonessential personnel to evacuate."

The doctors looked skeptical, but grabbed their things and headed out. The guard, however, stayed.

"Khan, how could you do this?" she asked at a whisper. "Hundreds will die… maybe thousands."

"If I had seen a peaceful way out, I would have taken it. When all's said and done, all roads lead to the same end," he said solemnly, and she smiled, knowing it was another of his quotes.

"What now?" she asked after a brief pause.

"They will get out," he said simply, taking in a pained breath.

She walked around the gurney to the IV drip, prepared to remove it.

"No," he said quickly, reaching for her but weakly missing. "Leave it. I'm more comfortable this way. If you remove it, the cyanide will be unbearable until my system has expelled it."

"What do you expect me to do, _leave you?_" she whispered, leaning toward him. She had never seen him so weak, and it scared her.

"I wasn't truthful with you, Mara," he said, obviously changing the subject. "When we spoke of the oath."

"What?"

"They all made the same oath—made it to me. I alone made another," he paused to take another weak and strained breath.

"_I will get you out_," he said simply after some time. "This was my promise. From nearly our very first day. We knew what we were, and what they intended to use us for. We saw a different path, one that found us free of subjugation and use. Do you know Friedrich Nietzsche believed that morality is a fiction used by the inferior human beings to hold back the few superior men?"

She let out a single frantic giggle at his constant use of cultural references that he wasn't even around for.

"I wouldn't really consider Nietzsche a role model," she said, her hand falling into his. He held it weakly.

He was quiet, listening to the sounds of revolt for a long time. There were muted gunshots, screams, crashes…

"I won't just leave you here, Khan," Mara said finally.

"And you won't have to," he replied. "Find Lorran. At this point, he should be on B-Level. He'll have it all planned out."

"He'll have what plan…"

"You'll see. Now kiss me, and get out of here," he said with as much energy and charm as he could muster.

She leaned in and planted a slow kiss on his lips, one that he returned tenfold. "Thanks for the key card," she whispered in his ear, just before turning to go.

In a move that was very slight-of hand, she released his restraints, silently thanking whoever thought of the button-release instead of the key.

The guard, thankfully, had had his back turned, and simply nodded to her as she left. She smiled, hoping everything went as Khan planned. Something told her it would. It always went Khan's way.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

B-Level was complete chaos. It was pretty much a war zone. There were AHL's everywhere, using weapons and shields Mara had never seen before—she could only assume they were of their own design.

Facing them were white-coats and a new security force Mara had not yet seen. They were dressed in black body armor and bulletproof vests, with riot gear lining their arms and legs. They carried long Plexiglass shields and wore the traditional black riot visors. These guys seemed to be holding their own.

Mara kept her head down as she made her way to a corner that was being held by The 72. They had a front line established midway down the long open space, and not a single enemy could reach the corner. There, Mara spotted Lorran.

He wasn't fighting or even reloading. While the others fought to keep their ground, Lorran was ferociously working on wiring something to the ceiling and wall. As she approached, one of The 72 stepped forward, raising a gun.

"Kye!" Lorran yelled, stopping him. "She's with us."

Mara had a moment of shock and awe in which she truly considered who she was with. She was _with_ Khan, heart and soul. But the people on the other end were _her_ people… human beings. Was she really against them?

The man named Kye immediately lowered the gun, and shielded her with his own body as he escorted her to Lorran.

"Welcome to Hell, Ms. McGivers," Lorran said with a smile, turning back to his work.

She couldn't help but wonder what, exactly, Lorran knew of Hell. Had they read the Bible too? Something told her a group of genetic experiments wouldn't appreciate it very much.

"What are you doing?" she yelled over the gunfire. She heard a nearby scream, and turned to see Khan's Lieutenant-Commander Mirah fall to the ground, clutching a bullet wound in her abdomen. With the amount of noise on B-Level and the damage the bullets were doing to the AHL's that they hit, something told her they were high-powered rounds.

"To get to Paradise, one must first go through Hell….Dante," Lorran said with a smile.

"You too, with the quotes?" Mara asked, exasperated.

"No, Khan told me that one. When he asked me to do this," he said with sadness.

"What is 'this'?" she asked again, pointing to the mess-load of wires and odd objects Lorran was strapping to the wall and ceiling.

"I am going to simultaneously blow a hole into A-Level, and the access-stairway, as they've barred it off. With Rowen holding the ground near the elevator, we cannot get to Khan, and he told us that escape should be our priority. It is not mine, however."

"I could get back up to him," Mara said, fingering the key card in her pocket.

"And then what? All 72 of us ride the elevator out? In groups that small, they would surely stop us. And I am not about to sacrifice any of them," Lorran said, slamming what looked like a tiny white brick in the middle of all his wires.

"That looks like…" she gasped.

"C4," Lorran said, pressing a button on a display he held, and watching as the wires went active.

"But… you could kill him," Mara objected.

"And if we leave him, he has the same option. I will trust in his capacity for pain and regenerative capabilities," Lorran said, but there was sadness behind his eyes.

Lorran finished what he was doing, yanked the wires from his handheld display, and turned to his fellow AHL's.

"Crew, we have 45 seconds to be on the other side of this room before we're blown to annihilation."

With that, all of them pushed forward, guns firing and voices raised. With their combined might, the security force of Rowen was no match, some of them simply falling at the hands of Khan's weapons.

Lorran dragged Mara with him, and together, The 72 forced their way back as far from the corner as possible. When the employees of Rowen realized why they were so viciously being pushed back, it was too late.

Mara screamed as the most volatile and numbing explosion wracked the other half of B-Level. Flames filled nearly half the space, engulfing bodies that had been left there. Mara felt the air leave her chest as a shock wave erupted throughout the entire complex, and concrete and steel began collapsing inward. Mara's ears rang like nails on a chalkboard, and behind that there was simply static. As a physician, she subconsciously wondered exactly how much damage had just been done to her ear drums.

The collapse halted when almost half of B-Level had been obliterated, and Lorran wasted no time. He pushed back, leaving what was left of the Rowen security force to stare in shock.

"You lot, get out!" Lorran ordered, addressing The 72. They nodded, heading for the hole in the wall that now led to the access stairs. "Kye, get Mirah out. Kent, help me! Khan!" Lorran screamed, leaping nearly ten feet onto the pile of rubble and climbing into A-Level. Kent followed, shoving concrete aside like it was firewood.

Mara put her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming as she nearly stepped on the unmoving body of the guard that had stood watch in front of Khan's cell. He was trapped between two massive, car-sized hunks of rubble, and in his hand, still clasped tight, was his rifle. A sinking pity rose in her stomach, and she tried desperately to push it away. She loved Khan… she had to get him out.

_But at what cost?_

"Mara!" she heard Lorran cry, and she abandoned her pity to climb the pile of rubble into A-Level.

Much of it had collapsed, including the first row of cells. Mara's heart sank as she found Lorran leaning over an unmoving Khan.

His cell hadn't taken the brunt of the explosion, but it had collapsed downward, leaving the still-drugged Khan lying bloody on the uneven ground. The iron bars were mangled and hanging three feet above them, still attached to the ceiling.

"Come on, Khan," Lorran begged, yanking the IV out of his arm. Khan attempted to lean up, but was obviously in tremendous pain.

Lorran snaked a hand around his shoulders, pulling him to his feet.

No sooner had they turned to descend the rubble heap than a single shot rang out through B-Level, and Lorran screamed, dropping to the ground. Khan fell to his knees, but it was clear his worry was aimed at his first officer.

Mara spun around to see a bloody and beaten Pierce stalking toward them from the elevator. There were very few Rowen security guards left, but those who were slowly lined up with Pierce, raising their weapons once more.

"_You!_" Pierce shrieked, pointing at Khan. Khan was trembling as the drugs slowly wore off, but his eyes turned to ice as he stared at Pierce. Mara could see Lorran barely moving beside him, a wound directly over his heart.

"You ruined _everything,_" Pierce roared as he stepped forward. Blood stained Pierce's face, and his clothes were torn. Khan slowly stood, but it was obvious he was weak. He looked down on Pierce, pure hatred pouring from his gaze.

"One must wonder," Khan began, slowly descending the rubble. He left Lorran, but Mara knew it wasn't because he didn't care. With any luck, Lorran would heal by the time Khan disengaged Pierce.

Khan took deliberately measured steps, and Mara could tell that if he didn't, he would fall. But it came off as simply dramatic. It could work.

"Was Daedalus truly distraught when Icarus plummeted to his death," Khan continued, reaching the bottom of the pile and approaching Pierce slowly.

"Or was he simply disappointed by the design failure?"

With that, Khan reached up and placed a hand on the side of Pierce's face, throwing him down to the ground so hard that Mara heard a crack as his skull hit the floor. He was not out, however, and Khan knew this. He leapt at him, practically snarling with rage.

The others knew that the guards and technicians would try to help him, so Kent stepped forward with one of Khan's guns, taking out three in quick succession. Mara knew she couldn't just stand there, so she leapt forward, grabbing a guard's gun by the barrel and yanking it from his hand. He had obviously never expected this from her, or he would have had a better grip on it.

However, as she spun the gun in her hand and pointed it at him, she found that she couldn't pull the trigger. Years of service in the hospital came flooding back—delivering the child of a car crash victim and managing to save both mother and son. Performing emergency heart surgery on a gunshot victim in a non-sterile sandwich shop, and managing to keep him alive until paramedics arrived. Keeping her hand firmly on the stab wound of a gang victim for two hours while gang violence was quelled by police. She had never killed a human being before. Saving them was her life, her passion. And taking it away didn't seem to be in her nature, even if it meant her own death.

_He'll kill Khan. Just do it. If even one of them lives, it could ruin his escape._

Her hand shook, tears falling down her face as her finger trembled over the trigger.

Luckily, she didn't have to. A bullet hit the guard from the left, and she jumped, turning to look at its origin as he fell.

Lorran was leaning up, grimacing in pain and holding his chest. He held a gun in his shaking right hand, and he nodded to her as she looked at him.

Mara dropped the gun in disgust, looking up to find that every last one of Pierce's guards and technicians had been taken out or neutralized. She looked down to see Pierce desperately crawling away from Khan.

"If you wanted me to follow you blindly in servitude," Khan hissed, stalking after him slowly and kicking him over to stop his escape. "You shouldn't have given me the ability to despise you for it."

Pierce was on his back, still trying to crawl away. Khan pounced on him like a wild animal, and Pierce struggled against him to little avail. Khan's grasp found Pierce's throat, and he whimpered.

"Khan, please don't," Mara begged, watching as Pierce fought against Khan's strangling hold.

"I'd tell you to go to Hell," Khan growled. "But Hell is empty. All the devils are here."

With that, Khan spit on the ground to Pierce's right, and snapped his neck like a straw.

* * *

**Author's note: **I feel that at this point I should explain Khan's literary references. (FYI, that last one about the devils is Shakespeare). For those who aren't fans of the old movies, this faq is for you-the original Khan played by Montalban did this a LOT, namely with Melville's "Moby Dick." Famously, Khan's last words in _Wrath_ were quoted from Moby Dick: "To the last, I will grapple with thee... from Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!" So basically, with my story, I was trying to meld the two Khans together to form a kind of amalgamation of the two, one that combines the attributes of both that make them great. I felt that the lit. quotes did just that. I have dropped several in here that I didn't have him identify, just as easter eggs for all of you. :-]


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Tears rolled down Mara's face as she looked down at the unmoving corpse of Director Henry Pierce. Khan stood slowly on shaking legs, exhaustion and pain mixing in his features. It was clear that he was healing, as he wasn't remotely as weak as he had been before, but it was slow going.

Khan looked to her first, approaching slowly. "Do not weep for him," he said acidly, taking her hand. "Monsters deserve no such devotion."

"Was he?" she asked slowly, looking up at him. "Was he, really? He followed his dream, and created you."

Khan looked angered that she had said such a thing. "I should rather he hadn't created me at all than do so and use me."

With that he turned his back on her, climbing the rubble and kneeling next to Lorran. Lorran grimaced, clutching at his heart as blood oozed through his fingers. Khan spoke softly to him for a moment, then gingerly helped him to his feet. Lorran shook his head, as if attempting to rid himself of the pain.

"Come," Khan said in a low, animalistic tone. "There will be more."

He headed for the access stairs, taking the gun when Lorran handed it out to him and never looking back. Mara followed reluctantly, half afraid and half desirous.

She wanted to go with him… but she was scared. This newfound power was making him different.

As the group surfaced into the gardens, they were met with the rest of The 72, bloody and worn out but united. All of them looked relieved to see Khan.

The sun was beginning to come up, and Mara could see parts of the garden touched by the fighting. There was a collapsed hole to the left of the fountain where Lorran's bomb had made their exit. There was blood on the path, where Rowen guards and techs had obviously fled. It was nothing of the peace it had previously been.

Khan stood before them, every bit the leader he was, despite the damage he had taken. He looked around at them, his eyes falling on every wound, every grimace. It was clear that he didn't want to let himself forget the cost of what they had done.

"You know what to do," he said simply.

They turned, making for the high, electrified fences that formed the outer barrier of Rowen's compound. Khan alone stayed.

He turned to Mara, his eyes downcast.

"You need to go," he said meekly.

"No," she protested, but he spoke over her.

"Mara, they will assume you helped me and…"

"NO!" she yelled back, slamming a fist against his chest. Her voice broke as emotion threatened to overwhelm her. "You can't make me say it, and then force me to leave you. You just can't."

His hands closed on her upper arms, and he pushed her back, slowly, like he desperately didn't want to.

"Mara, please," he asked. "I must ensure the safety of my crew…"

"_Let me go with you!_" she cried, trying to look him in the eyes.

He thought for a long time, watching his crew as they made it to the fences. Mara jumped as the sound of twisting metal met her ears. She turned just in time to watch the seventy-two of them tearing the electrified fence down with their bare hands.

"Here," Khan said under his breath. He held out a torn-off piece of paper, and it had a single address on it. In what looked like Pierce's handwriting.

"Meet us there in three days' time," he said, closing her hand around the paper and holding it for a long time.

She stared down at it for a while, then looked up at him. All the doubt, anger, anxiety and fear he felt was written across his features.

She ripped her hand away from his and threw it around his neck as she kissed him hard, putting every sense of need into every touch of her lips. She may never kiss him again, and she wanted him to know that this one mattered.

With a passion that surprised her, he wrapped his arms around her lower back, pulling her up against him so hard that her feet lifted from the ground. He kissed her back, a fury in him that overwhelmed her.

As he pulled away, he looked at her like he had never truly looked at her before. His hand moved her hair from her face in an incredibly gentle and affectionate manner.

"How frail the human heart must be…" he said in an undertone, looking at every angle of her face, as if he was cataloguing it so he would never forget.

She smiled, knowing the tone. He kissed her on the forehead and pulled away reluctantly. He turned, and never looked back as he followed his family off of the compound at a brisk jog.


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Mara had nowhere to go. She was in London with no car and the place she had been staying was recently bombed… somewhat with her help. Scotland Yard was out looking for her, as well as The 73. News broadcasts were everywhere—when she could get a glimpse of them in cafés, The 73 were simply being referred to as 'war criminals.' Of course the media wasn't about to admit that they had lost their genetic experiments. The whole world knew that Britain had created them, and they didn't want the world knowing that they couldn't hold on to them.

_Understandable_, she thought sarcastically to herself as she pulled a raincoat higher up on her neck. She ducked into a small café on the east end of London proper. Luckily she had had her money clip on her when she fled, so she had some money to spend, as well as her cards. She had spent the first two days ducking in and out of Hostels, since hotels would be too risky, so she hadn't had a shower. She felt like a bum, but she had bigger problems to worry about.

For a while, she deeply considered what her life would be like now. Would she always be on the run? Running with Khan—the criminal's woman.

On the other hand, she couldn't imagine her life without him. When he had forced her to say it, she hadn't complied simply to sate him—it was true. She loved him. And she couldn't bear the thought of leaving him now.

As she ordered a black coffee, her attention was caught by a news broadcast playing in the far corner of the café. Of course, it was about The 73. A surveillance picture of Khan graced the screen as the anchorwoman spoke.

"Sources within New Scotland Yard have reported that the group has been tracked, and that they are close to apprehending them. Scotland Yard warns, however, that if you encounter any one of them, _do not engage them_. You are urged to contact Scotland Yard immediately. They are reported as being armed and highly dangerous.

The woman paused as the picture changed. Horror fell over Mara as her own image flashed onto the screen.

"In a related story, authorities are looking for this woman—twenty-seven year old Mara McGivers, an American physician reported to have aided in the attack on Rowen Laboratories."

Mara looked around frantically for a moment, making sure everyone was occupied with their coffee or conversation. Luckily they were.

She took her coat, pulling it up to her cheekbones, and slowly walked out before the barista could return with her coffee and recognize her.

She pulled the slip of paper from her pocket, the edges bent from where she had held it almost every minute of every day.

She knew the address was still in London, because she recognized the street. She slipped into a beauty store, using testers of lipstick and mascara to disguise her face, before returning to the street and hailing a cab. Her hair had been down in the picture on the news, so she pulled it back tight.

The cabbie luckily didn't recognize her, and she reluctantly handed the piece of paper over to him. It might be the only thing she had left of him, and she didn't want to give it up so easy.

The drive was long and silent, but Mara's heart was in her throat the entire time. She didn't know what was about to happen, but something was making her nauseous.

As soon as the cabbie pulled up, she knew she was at the right place. It was an old, out-of-use factory, many of the windows broken and the concrete stained from years of neglect. Definitely the kind of place Khan would choose.

"You sure you want to go here, mum?" the cabbie asked, looking around.

"Yes, thank you," she said, leaning forward and handing him the money needed.

As soon as she opened the door, someone came walking with purpose from the factory. She vaguely recognized her as Mirah, Khan's Lieutenant-Commander.

"Hello…" Mara began.

Mirah said nothing, merely strolling right past her with purpose, right up to the window of the cab, and shooting the cabbie in the head.

Mara screamed, throwing her hand to her mouth. "Why did you do that?!" she cried, her hands shaking.

"Orders," Mirah said monotonously, tucking the gun in the back of her belt. "No one can know we're here."

"But he didn't…" Mara gasped, looking inside the cab even though she knew she didn't want to. A tear fell down her cheek as she looked on the man's unmoving form.

"Can't risk it," Mirah replied in the same deadpan. "Come with me."

Without waiting to find out if she would follow, Mirah pivoted and marched back into the factory. Mara shivered, pulling her coat closer around her and following on shaking legs.

A washing sense of relief blanketed her as the first face that met her eyes was his. He was bright and strong again, the usual expressionless gaze on his face.

He softened when he saw her, stepping forward and holding out a hand. She took it, and his fingers closed around hers. It was a safe, familiar feeling, having his grasp firmly on hers.

"Welcome," he said simply. "I never doubted you would come."

"Really, because I did," she said in a joking tone, and he grinned that toothless smile she loved so much.

As they walked farther into the factory, Mara realized there was a strange and foreign contraption setup smack in the middle of the open space.

On the floor was some kind of blue plated metal mat, with raised circles every foot or so. There looked to be about… _seventy-three of them._

Far above the mat was a similar pad, hanging from the ceiling directly over the other to form a mirror-image. And to the far right of the floor mat was a podium… a control panel of some kind with buttons galore.

"What fresh hell is this?" she asked, stepping forward and scrutinizing it.

Khan took in a deep breath, joining her in front of the mat.

"Beaming technology," Khan replied, rocking on the balls of his feet.

"Do-what-now?" she asked, turning to him.

He pursed his lips, a sense of apprehension falling over him. "Teleportation, essentially," he said.

"Shut up…" was the first shocked phrase that came to mind, and Khan raised his eyebrows.

She cleared her throat, trying to get a grip on herself. "So, you… you created teleportation technology?" she asked, still in disbelief as she stared at the mats.

"Yes," he said with a smile.

"Captain!" came a familiar voice from behind her. She turned, finding Lorran jogging up to them with a handheld display of some kind. He held it up for Khan to see, and Mara could see a hoard of police cruisers closing in on the factory. "They're closing in," Lorran said worriedly.

Apprehension crossed Khan's face, and he spun away from the mat, approaching the control panel, where the man name Kye was programming. "Get it online. We're out of time."

Kye pressed a few buttons, flipped a lever, and turned to Khan.

"The prototype logs all destinations," he said. "They'll know where we've gone."

"Lorran!" Khan called, and Lorran jogged forward. "The time-delay explosives…"

"Wait, you created teleportation technology, and you're going to _destroy it?!_" Mara asked.

Khan grinned, tapping his temple. "Don't need the machine. I know how to make it. Although I did leave all of the schematics at Rowen…"

She knew he wouldn't need the schematics to replicate his design; he was simply distressed that they could now fall into someone else's hands. He turned back to Lorran as he reappeared with two small wired bombs.

"I should think a minute will suffice," Khan said, and Lorran nodded. That was when Khan took a step forward, clapping a hand against Lorran's neck, his face inches from Lorran's.

"Lorran… you are my first officer. My friend, my brother," he paused, his voice shaking. "I don't care what you have to do. You set it, and you _follow us._"

The passion in Khan's voice shocked Mara, but it was obviously familiar to Lorran. He nodded, accepting the sentiment wholeheartedly as Khan stepped away.

"I should be the one…" Khan began again, but Lorran interrupted.

"You have nearly sacrificed your life for us once already," Lorran said. "And they need you to lead them. What is a first mate for, if not to serve his Captain unto death?"

Khan swallowed hard, a silence falling over the entire group. Mara could hear the sirens of the Scotland Yard closing in.

An idea came over Mara, one that both excited and terrified her.

"I'll do it," she said through a lump in her throat.

If it was possible, Khan looked even more horrified at her volunteering.

"No," Khan demanded, stepping away from Lorran and approaching her. "They could kill you. It is a mathematical uncertainty—if you'll make it out or not."

"You were willing to risk Lorran's life," she responded.

"Because I know him to be more experienced with the equipment. And he'll heal better than you, if they do catch up to him" he paused, thinking hard. "Mara, they _will kill you,_" he warned in a lower tone.

"You don't know that… not me," she said, a sinking feeling in her chest telling her that she was lying through her teeth. "Him, they would shoot on site," she said, gesturing to Lorran. "But me… I could say you threatened me… that everything that's happened, everything in Rowen, it was all…"

Her voice cracked as the emotion of a realization began to wash over her—if she did this, there was a possibility she would never see him again. Never feel his lips on hers, never feel his fingers on her skin.

"It was all because you threatened me. The only person who knew about _us_ was Pierce, and he's gone. I might have a chance," she said, her voice still shaking.

He studied her for a long time, his expression unreadable.

"No, Mara, I can't let you…" he began.

"You don't have a choice," she interrupted. "They're your family. I'm not. Protect your family, Khan. And I'll do the same."

He stared at her for the longest time, the impending sirens doing nothing to his resolve.

"No," he said simply, grabbing her by the wrist and walking her to the control panel. "When it's time, you flip this lever. Then I want you to arm this…"

He paused, all dedication and passion as he turned to Lorran, taking the explosives from his hand.

"This is a time-delay explosive. Nothing new or complicated. You set it, then you follow us," he demanded, pushing the bomb into her hand.

She smiled, taking it and looking down at it. His enthusiasm and devotion to taking her with him proved that, while he hadn't ever said it…

"Do you understand?" he asked, forcing her to look up at him by a gentle but firm grip on her chin.

She fought back the tears, trying desperately to maintain control of herself. If the tears started flowing, they wouldn't stop.

"Of course," she said, nodding shakily and closing her fingers on the contraption.

He narrowed his eyes, and she thought for a moment that he would see through her mask.

But he sighed a deep, resolved breath, taking a step back. "Crew, prepare to depart," he said, and The 72 began to step onto the mat in a haphazard but somewhat logical formation.

Khan turned his back and took two slow and deliberate steps toward the mat before he stopped. His head and shoulders dropped and he simply stood for a little too long. Just as Mara was about to ask him what was wrong, he spun around.

"I can't do it," he whimpered, turning back to her and collapsing at her knees. Mara had never seen him so upset or desperate, and the tears threatened to break through again.

He grasped handfuls of her shirt, his forehead leaning against her stomach as he pleaded with her,

"I can't leave… not knowing if you'll follow. Please, _please,_ just go with them. Let me stay. I'll… I'll survive whatever they can throw at me, but not if you…"

His voice broke, and a shudder ran through him.

The tears finally broke through, and Mara dropped to her knees before him, scooping him into her arms and pulling him tighter than she thought she could.

"_They need you,_ Khan," she whispered, running a hand through his hair. "You are their Captain. And Rowen will stop at _nothing_ to destroy you. Just go. I'll be right behind you," she cooed, trying not to fumble.

He panted for a moment, rocking against her, and she finally knew.

As he pulled away, she could see tears in his eyes that he refused to let fall. He held his hand over his mouth for a moment, desperately trying to regain composure. His hand shook, but he raised it slowly, resting it against her cheek.

"You _are _my family," he said through a shaking voice and trembling lips. He pulled her in for a kiss, one that blew away the factory, the impending police, the desperation.

Finally, he pulled away, standing and walking to the mat to join his crew. Lorran looked at him solemnly, then nodded minimally at Mara. She stood, her trembling legs carrying her to the control panel.

Khan watched her with his predator's eyes, a desperation and solitude in them that threatened to break Mara's heart.

"The inferno strong enough to break the heart ignites the stars," he said, his voice strong.

She grinned. "Who said that one?" she asked, her hand hovering over the lever.

"Singh," he said with a somber smile. "Khan."

A single gasp fell from her lips, and she held a trembling hand over her mouth to hold them back as she flipped the lever, watching as sunset-yellow rings surrounded every single one of The 73, slowly tearing him away from her.

He stared as long as he could as the beam disintegrated his form, and just before he disappeared entirely, a single phrase fell from his lips.

"I love you, Mara McGivers."


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Mara screamed when he had gone, falling to her knees and sobbing so hard she couldn't breathe. Her chest felt heavy, like a two-ton javelin was now resting solidly on top. There was a stinging over her chest, like her heart had been ripped out by hand. She lay on the ground for a moment, the loss causing her to hyperventilate.

When she finally gained composure, she pulled herself to her feet, setting the baseball-sized bomb on the control panel and going to the duffle bag Lorran had pulled the bomb out of. After some shuffling, she found a few loose pieces of paper and a pen, and began furiously scribbling her last notes.

Once finished, she folded them neatly and placed them underneath the mats that had torn him away from her. If anything looked like it could withstand the blast, they could.

She wiped her eyes, a strange and emotionless resolve falling over her as she pulled an assault rifle from the duffle bag, finding piles of other weapons as well.

She felt a numbness wash over her as she began the countdown on the bomb. _One minute._ She turned, leaving it on the control panel as she slowly knelt.

She kept the rifle aimed at the main entrance, and pulled a cigarette from her pack. With a sense of shock, she realized that she hadn't had one in almost two months.

She took a long drag, feeling it burn her throat as the screeching of tires met her ears. Within seconds, hoards of Scotland Yard, British military, and Rowen security were pouring into every entrance. They surrounded her and the beaming mat, giving her a circle of about twenty feet.

Three men led the charge—one was obviously the chief of Scotland Yard, the other two were familiar…

Jack and Lewis Davidov, the Chair and Vice-Chair of Rowen Corp.

"That's it!" Jack cried, pointing to the control panel. "That's the technology Khan stole from us!"

An officer of Scotland Yard bravely took a step forward, and Mara raised the assault rifle.

"Take roots, redcoat, unless you're lookin' for a bunch of holes in that suit," she said, feeling extreme disgust with herself even as she spoke the words.

The young man stopped, looking back at the chief.

"Where are they, Ms. McGivers?" the chief asked, training his gun on her.

The count in her head gave her twenty seconds, if she was on-par with the timer.

"You say they stole this technology," she began, kneeling slowly. "When, if it was they who created it, it would be their intellectual property to begin with."

She lowered the gun to the ground, smoothly taking another drag of her cigarette with her free hand. The chief was obviously confused by her abrupt surrender, but lowered his weapon and stepped forward.

Jack and Lewis Davidov went immediately for the control panel, their eyes missing the bomb thus-far.

_Five._

"Cuff her," the chief said, motioning to a nearby officer and pulling out his cell phone, apparently to call it in.

_Four._

"What is this…" Jack Davidov said as he approached

_Three._

"Holy Mary, Mother of God!" Lewis cried, scrambling to run as he and his father noticed the bomb.

In the final seconds, Mara's mind thought of one thing and one thing only. Even if she had had more time, she wouldn't know why her entry-level college English literature class popped into her head, but she could think of only one reason.

_Two. _

"This is the way the world ends," she mouthed, tears falling down her cheeks as the officers and Rowen employees panicked all around her. She wasn't great with distances, but even then, she knew that very few of them were going to make it out of blast-range. One of them tried to get her to her feet and drag her out with him, but she was limp in his hand, only bothering to continue the quote.

"This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang…"

She registered a small beep and a click on the bomb, and her senses dulled as the final contentment set in.

"I'm sorry, Khan."


	26. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Subject Folder—Khan Noonien Singh

**Scotland Yard Incident Report**

**London, England**

**Stardate 1994.145**

At 1100 hours on the 25th of May, Scotland Yard successfully located the 73 escaped criminals of Rowen laboratories at the condemned Whitling Factory East of London. While the public is unaware, we know them to be genetically enhanced human beings capable of unknown violence. For this purpose, we approached the area with extreme caution. Accompanying us was a small contingent of the British military, aiding our efforts due to the large number and militarized nature of the subjects, and two Chairs of Rowen laboratories. Their sole purpose was to recapture at least one of the subjects, and provide us with knowledge on how to approach them.

However, upon entering the premises, we found only a single subject—Dr. Mara McGivers, the American known to have aided in the escape of the Rowen criminals. As she was armed with an automatic weapon, we followed protocol, surrounding the area and attempting a negotiation. Also inside the factory was a strange contraption, which Rowen declines to explain to us [warrant pending]. The Chairs of Rowen Labs did explain that the technology had been stolen, and the two of them branched off from our escort, despite multiple warnings, to attempt recovery of their technology.

As our negotiations progressed, Dr. McGivers did not respond to our line of questioning directly. Her speech was sporadic and random, but she began to lay down her weapon. It is at that point that Detective Inspector Thomas approached to take her into custody.

The Rowen Chairs then noticed an incendiary attached to the technology they were attempting to recover, and vocally warned those present. Shortly thereafter, the incendiary detonated, almost entirely decimating the Whitling factory.

Reported on-site: 15 casualties, 8 injuries [3 critical]

7 casualties in Scotland Yard, including DI Thomas [see pg. 62 for full Identity details]

2 casualties from Rowen Industries [see pg. 62]

5 British military casualties [see pg. 62]

1 civilian casualty—the perpetrator, Mara McGivers

While Mara McGivers was killed by the blast, we cannot be certain that she alone perpetrated the attack, therefore the incident has been labeled as a homicide, pending the capture of Rowen's escaped criminals.

The Rowen technology and all of its data were lost in the blast. Recovered in the debris was a duffle bag of weapons [see pg. 70 for manifesto], and a semi-damaged, hand-written note from the perpetrator [see attached]—

[page break]

_ I'm not quite sure when I fell in love with him. Does one ever truly know when or how love happens? Was it the day I first laid eyes on him, as he slept? Perhaps it was the day of his first waking. Was it the day I passed his test, when he attacked me? Or perhaps it was the first time he touched me. But the fact remains that when I fell, I fell hard._

_ I never believed the stories, the myths, the children's tales. I didn't believe in a love so strong you would die to protect it. I had gone my entire life, my many relationships, thinking I felt something akin to love. But it wasn't real, none of it was real. _

_ Some will say that he couldn't be loved, because he wasn't human. I would be the first person to argue otherwise. He _was_ human—he was the most compassionate, empathetic person I have ever met, in his own way. He fell in love with his family, in the same way I fell for him. I suppose it was so destructive because he never experienced the joy and heartbreak of a true, blood-born family. He chose them, and it is for that reason I think he was so manic about protecting them. They were all he had… minus me._

_ Losing me will destroy him, I'm confident of it now. And the thought of it tears me apart. But I couldn't follow him down that path… couldn't become what I already saw in him. He was born into battle—a genetically engineered warrior, with a mind for nothing else. Well…war, and love. What else is war about, really, when you think about it? _

_ Some will ask why I did what I did. And I hate myself already for the violence I am about to commit. I _cannot_ follow him down this path of darkness… but I refuse to watch him fall. I love him too much. It is sick, and perverted, but… I will do anything to see that he escapes. Because the men who created him will stop at nothing. They are _monsters_, and if this bomb kills them, it will be the only deaths I do not regret. They played God, creating marvels in 73 brilliant human lives… and then they experimented on them like rats… used them for their own ends._

_ To the family and friends of the men and women who will die today, I can only say that I am sorry. My words mean nothing to you, I'm sure, but I have only this to say in my defense—I loved him. As desperately as you loved them. He is a modern genetic marvel, my soul mate, and they would have chased him to the ends of the Earth and beyond. I wanted only to get him to safety, and I saw no other solution._

_ To my love, if you ever see these words, I am sorry. I am sorry I left you, I am sorry I didn't let you say goodbye. I saw what you were becoming—raw power and will. And I knew that I would follow you to the ends of the Earth. I cherish human life, it's why I became a doctor in the first place. My passion lies with humanity, but now it also lies with you. I would do anything to protect my love for you, and that's what scares me. I saw myself becoming something dangerous, something that I simply couldn't face. I knew that I would kill for you, and I was afraid of what I would become, and I beg of you—please, please lay down this fight. I know you think you will be lost without me, but you are _Khan_. You don't need all of this violence. Not all humans are like those of Rowen. There is good in them, I know it. If you just show them the man I know—the beautiful, perfect, gentle man—they will not reject you or subdue you like Rowen did. There will always be those that wish to use you, but turn to your family, for they are all you have. Trust no one else. But please know that I loved you until my very last breath. I saw no way out for me, no way out for us. And I was scared, Khan. So scared… _

_ In the end, I knew I couldn't kill for you, but a thousand times over, I would die for you; __will__ die for you. Perhaps Charles Dickens said it best._

_ "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."_

_ Goodbye, my love._

_Mara._

[page break]

**The Los Angeles Times**

Stardate 2014

**The Eugenics Wars are OVER!**

At approximately 9 o'clock in the evening yesterday, the tyrant known as Khan was removed from power in the West. For exactly twenty years, the genetic experiments-gone-wrong, simply known to us as The '73,' have reigned over much of Britain, Spain, Germany, and France, systematically wiping out those they deemed as 'lesser,' or inferior. For a force of only 73 men and women, their power over us has been immense, the cost often great.

But yesterday, after a highly secretive and global effort went underway, twenty-six countries united as one, teaming with the now ten-year old interstellar force known as Starfleet to orchestrate an attack on The 73.

The cost was immense. Military forces from every country took severe losses. But in the end, through dedication and global unity, the reign of terror came to an end. The criminals will not stand trial, nor will they face the death penalty.

Some say he did what he did in the throes of a broken heart. Others say he has no heart. Regardless, we can only hope that that heart will not beat again in our lifetimes. While the solution has faced scrutiny and backlash, The 73 will be handed over to Starfleet. Their genetic superiority places them at too great a value to exterminate; therefore Starfleet has deigned to place them in suspended animation until such a time… [story continues in section A3).

[end]

**Uncharted Space—**

**Orbit of Ceti Alpha V**

**U.S.S. Vengeance**

**Stardate 2258.341**

"Admiral," Quora asked as she stood over one of the cryotubes. "Have you made a decision?"

Admiral Alexander Marcus paced a long, uneven line between the cryotubes, flipping through the 500-page folders on each individual. He had read all of them, and believed himself to be making the best decision possible.

"Yes," he said, disregarding 72 of them. He flipped through the notes of the doctor again… what was her name?

_McGivers._

She painted the picture of a man tortured by compassion and yet driven by a warrior's mind.

"This one," he said, laying a hand across the nearest cryotube. In suspended animation, they all looked helpless… except this one. He had an expression that seemed to have frozen with him—one of perpetual anger and sadness.

"_Khan_," Quora said as she read the chart. "The… the tyrant?"

"Hm…" Marcus grunted. "Yes, you're right. Some will still know his name."

Marcus flipped back through the pages of the folder, finding a report from the Eugenics Corporation.

Khan had fought with a human man, tearing through the tendon in his shoulder like it was tissue.

Marcus grinned to himself, an old Swedish tradition coming to mind. "Give him the alias '_John Harrison_'," he said, handing her the file. "And make sure he understands that he is _mine._ And _the second_ he steps out of line…"

He pointed to the other cryotubes, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"Yes sir," Quora said, beginning the regeneration process. "I'll see that it's done."

**FIN**

"_Now, in their love, which was stronger, there were the seeds of hatred and fear and confusion growing at the same time: for love can exist with hatred, each preying on the other, and this is what gives it its greatest fury."_

_~T.H. White, The Once and Future King_

* * *

**Author's note: **Thank you all SO much for following so close! Your feedback was always so loving, and I love each and every one of you :-] I made a youtube video to accompany this fanfic (it's kind of trailer/music video style, and I promise it's not lame!) I cast everyone, and I would love if you would check it out! Just put this after the youtube url: watch?v=Rf91eGp5A6U&feature=

*ALSO: If you are paying attention to the stardates, which I hope you are because they are integral, you'll notice it's been twenty years between Khan's "birth" and his suspended animation at the end of the Eugenics Wars. Given that I made him late twenties-ish at his "birth", that would make him late forties,** IF** he aged like a normal human, which (if you'll recall) in my fanfic, I decided that he does NOT. So, adjusting for slowed aging, it would perfectly place him early-mid thirties for Into Darkness.

Otherwise, thank you for taking this INCREDIBLE journey with me, and as always, live long and prosper my friends!


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